Kuroko No Basuke Boyfriend Scenarios
by chrysanthe5695
Summary: /./ I will gladly take requests. A collection of novellas for the characters I like. This is from my quotetv account, Vagrant the Cat!
1. First Impressions

**First Impressions**

 **Imayoshi Shoichi**

"Ah, _-san, It's good to see you looking so well." You didn't turn around; you didn't even need to, "Hello Imayoshi-kun."

You've known this guy for awhile now maybe not well, you went to middle school with him, even so you've always avoided him. Your reason? He's downright _eerie._ You have always had a knack for sensing people's personalities, many people were predictable and it was because of your highly observant nature that you can usually figure out someone's thoughts and intentions. But with Imayoshi you had no idea what he was thinking, or what he was up to.  
His voice was mildly pleasant enough even if you didn't want to admit it, smooth and low, sometimes it felt like he was speaking in your head, hell what are you even saying.

"You've been out for awhile now" he slid into the desk adjacent to yours.

 _"Im not surprised..hes always been observant..but this is the first time it's been of me."_

You turned your head to the fox faced man a bit surprised, but logic conquered wonder, of course, he's been sitting next to you for a year or so now, its normal to notice a desk empty.

"Yes I was quite ill, but I am doing much better now" you murmured, surprisingly shy that your presence was even noticed by him, usually your silent nature deters interactions on a day to day basis, but beyond your awareness, Imayoshi has always watched you either from a distance or up close, for some reason he couldn't seem to help it, your reserved nature, your intelligence as he always sees your high marks in class, and how you regard your fellow students kindly, even if you express no interest in getting to know them, you were warm, but detached.

He gave a slight chuckle and leaned in closer "That's good to hear _-san, I look forward to seeing you spectate our games again".

You blinked. He notices me at games? Sure, you loved basketball in fact you were a pretty big fan, however you always sat far in the back, away from most of the people, it's not like your anti-social or anything, but leaving the closer seats to the more...outwardly eager fans seems to make sense.

You parted your lips slightly before speaking " If you notice me in your games then I too, look forward to seeing you, Imayoshi-kun".

His eyes slanted slightly open the corner of his lips jerked in amusement, were you flirting with him? Was that a hidden message...then again why was he even thinking that. At first it was purely for entertainment to speak to you, after all he couldn't figure you out either, but you've always been kind and respectful to him, but what really caught his attention was your nearly obvious (to him) disinterest in speaking to him more than necessary and your body language to match.

Before any thought can be further pursued the bell rung signaling the start.

 **Kiyoshi Teppei**

"Hey watch out!" a voice hollers over to you as you turned around, but it was too late, the basketball hit you square on the forehead knocking you on your ass.

"Ow what the-" you rubbed your head as a red mark began to appear, it was your first day at Seirin High as a transfer, you had no idea where you were going and ended up wandering through the court in the gym to see if somehow the other side led to a place familiar to you, it was the end of school anyway and you just wanted to solidify your mental map of the place but couldn't seem to get it implanted in your head _"No idea how I got to my classes today.."_

You looked up to see a rather tall man offer his hand to you "Are you alright?" his voice was laced with slight concern as his shadow cast down over you

You laughed and took his hand it was rather large and wrapped around yours quickly, his fingers extending past your wrist."Quite fine, no worries! Not dead so that must count for something!" a warm smile spread across your face.  
A man with black hair joined his side "A long time ago, I once wondered why a basketball was getting bigger, then it hit me." he randomly stated as if to console you.

You made a rather puzzled face before bursting out into a small fit of laughter "Oh I get it now! That was clever."

The dark haired man's eyes widen as he stared in bemusement his tone suddenly became serious "Do you like puns?"

"Very much so."

"Hah! I never seen someone laugh at your puns before Izuki-kun!" The tall man replied.

"My name is Kiyoshi Teppei" he smiled at you nodding his head

" _, _" You bowed politely.

As you looked up at him you realized two things, the first thing was that the other man has slipped away, being yelled at by another boy wearing glasses. The second being how incredibly handsome the brunette standing before you was, suddenly shy you spoke with a soft voice, "I am actually a little lost, I'm new here and just recently realized that I don't have the best sense of direction" you looked down slightly embarrassed. But for some reason felt the urge to continue "I didn't want to ask for help right away you see, I wanted to be able to figure it out for myself without bothering anyone, I suppose I just felt it was okay to struggle for a bit if you eventually find your way you know?" overcame with the feeling of speaking too much you shut your mouth

 _"Why do I become such a chatterbox when I meet someone new.."_

Kiyoshi's face remained unchanged but an unknown expression flickered in his eyes "Well, I admire you for sticking it out for so long" a contagious smile covered his face as he seemed to radiate friendliness and warmth "I figured you were new" he continued, "I was wondering myself why I've never noticed a face like yours before."

Your cheeks were dusted with a light pink as you come to a slight realization that it was a compliment before you opened your mouth to say something- "Basketball practice ends in 15 for me, if you're willing to wait around I'd love to show you through the school." he offered it with such a sincere tone that it would seem almost wrong to deny him, against your natural habit to reject any help you decided to accept his offer.

"T-thank you Kiyoshi-kun, I appreciate it!" you voiced

He placed a hand on his hip and laughed "No problem at all! Wait for me, okay?"

"Y-yes.."

 **Midorima Shintaro**

"Keep your eyes open today, Cancer. You will meet someone interesting."

Midorima closed his eyes.

Always taking in deep thought of his daily dose of Oha Asa as he handled his item, a small square picture frame. He barely heard the footsteps rushing pass him as a young girl's shoulder bumped his arm her _ hair tips tickling his skin as she breezes by.

"Sorry sir! I am trying to avoid someone!" you yelled over your shoulder as you cut through a corner.

And that was the end of that.

*Time forward*

You heavily sighed as you sunk against the wall of the school, you looked up at the pale yellow sky, signaling the end's day _"Finally.I got away."_

You never usually run away from things, but today was different, you accidentally grabbed another student's backpack, but it was not like it was your fault, they looked exactly the same! Nonetheless the boy accused you of taking his things, the sudden crowd of eyes began to surround you as the drawn attention made you utterly nervous, you apologized and best tried to explain yourself but to no avail, with no other hope you dropped his bag and ran off - never able to retrieve your own.

 _"What am I going to do now.I have no idea where my stuff is.."_

You were often misunderstood, unlucky, is probably one of the more accurate ways to describe it. Since the day you were born you felt like nothing has ever come to you quickly, not unless you worked hard for it, everything ever given in your middle school years to now, from your new shoes to your own clothes you always had your money, and it wasn't like it was your fault your parents were poor, but you made the best of what you had.

"It's you."

You looked up to see a man with green hair and glasses, vaguely familiar you recalled the time you met him.

"Oh! I remember you now! I'm so sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to bump into you." you tilted your chin down your hair covering your face as you waited for his reply, you didn't expect much, people usually don't regard you highly for some reason...sometimes you wonder if your status was that obvious.

Avoiding the apology the man continued to stare at you _"Is this really the interesting person?"_

"What were you running from?" he wanted to say.

"Hmph..You should really watch where you go next time, I was holding my lucky item." "Your lucky..what?"

He held it up,his rather elegant fingers wrapping around the sides of the frame, you took in his features, there was a lot to look at in your opinion, the bandages on his hands, the scowl on his face, how green his eyes and hair was. You never seen anyone like him before. You bowed again "My deepest apologies, I just was in a little situation, I can't seem to find my bag now though" a nervous laugh left your lips as you tilted your head.

"A lucky item huh? Does that have to do with horoscopes and such? I don't carry them around myself, but I've always been interested in it!" You nodded your head affirmatively, there was a phase in your life where you truly wondered if you were born with bad luck, it was in your belief that fate would not change for you unless you took it upon yourself to change it, little did you know, how opposite the man before you actually thought of such.

When you were met with silence you pressed yourself to continue "I am a _! You began to list your traits, your elements and even your time of birth. "I think it speaks pretty accurately of me, but It's been awhile.."

Midorima's eyes opened with little surprise as it is not often he meets someone that knows about Astrology instead of knowing of it. "In that case, your horoscope for today tells you to take extra care of your belongings" he stated, before walking away "Wait!" He turned. A grateful smile was seen from his distance "Thank you!"

 _"An interesting person.."_

 **Aomine Daiki**  
"Dai-chan"  
"Uhn"  
"Dai-chan!"  
An annoyed grunt reverberated through Aomine's chest as he gruffly responded "What do you want Satsuki."  
"I met someone today! She's really nice, and I managed to coax her into joining the team to become it's new manager!" She excitedly explains, her words nearly flying out of her mouth a mile a minute.  
"How does this concern me?"  
"Well..she has big breasts~" she chirped.  
Aomine closed his eyes as he laid back on the rooftop his forearms supporting the back of his head  
"If this is your way of getting me to go to practice again you can forget it."  
She sighed, of course there was never an official yes from you but still, after their defeat to Seirin the team seemed more scattered then ever, she was desperate, the idea of getting another manager never really clicked into her thoughts until..

"Ugh! I'm never going to understand this." Your friend yelled as he roughly ran his fingers through his hair. A genuine and understanding look painted the features of your face as you gently placed the pencil back in his hand.

"Don't worry about it Tamaki-kun, it takes a lot of time to master something you know? I'm sure as long as you don't give up, and persist you will get this." You reassured your friend as you stood up hovering over his shoulder "You break down the problem like this, and then you move the equation over here.." Momoi overheard your conversation with your friend, feeling recently dejected from Too's loss herself, her thoughts seemed to be drifting aimlessly until it was pulled out by your positive affirmations nearby. "Oh I get it now! So that's how you get that answer then!" You smiled as you patted your friend on his shoulder, "Don't forget to check your work okay? and I knew you could do it! You've always had it in you." a small blush formed on his high cheek bones as he bashfully glanced up at you "Thanks for never giving up on me.. _-san" This wasn't the first time you tutored him, for the longest time he has always struggled with Math, and you've always been there to help him, even through his temper problems, or his apparent frustrations, even through the times he wanted to abandon his efforts all together you were always there to guide him and had the patience of a saint.

It was then that the pink haired lady requested to speak to you.

For some reason she held a strong assumption that you could be of help to the team "You don't meet many people as encouraging as yourself _-san!" "If you want the extra credit I'd love to have you join!" Being a sucker for sob stories yourself you felt strongly aligned to Momoi's beliefs and asked her for time to think about it.

It was mid-day that you decided to get some air, though you never took advantage of the perks you get, it was quite nice being appreciated by the school for your high grades and tutoring efforts, you alone have helped nearly half the class bring their grades up so sneaking up to the rooftop would probably bring little consequence. "I'm hardly going to have time to tutor anymore if I become manager of the basketball team" you stated out loud as you leaned against the fence looking down outside. _"I can see everything from here.."_

Lifting an eye open Aomine tilted his head over to look below at the woman before him, his eye slowly swept from your legs making it's way up your chest as he took in your form.

 _"Is this the girl Satsuki is yammering about?" he thought with piqued interest_

Aomine himself has seen you around school before, either surrounded by adoring classmates or distracted with interested guys, though he himself never interacted with you, he certainly made himself acquainted with your bust.

Feeling eyes on you, you looked up "Is somebody there?"

"Oui."

Aomine stared down at you readily exposing his appearance to your line of sight. "You're Aomine Daiki, part of the basketball team correct? I've heard quite a lot about you" you greeted as you bowed politely.  
"No need for such formality, but yeah I've recently heard some things about you myself." he lazily remarked as he sat up. You recalled the offer Momoi gave, along with her big pleading eyes and hopeful stare. "Yes, I am planning to become the manager, I am sure I'll be seeing you more often."  
He laughed, though you thought there was nothing to laugh about "Hardly, I don't go to practice, I have better things to do." You placed your hands on your hips, though you've always had high expectations for yourself you tried your best not to force it on others. But this man..something about him sparked a nerve inside of you.

"Well Aomine, though I cannot force you, I am compelled to remind you of your loss to Seirin, They are probably still practicing right now. Would be a shame to see you fall so behind because of your lackadaisical arrogance."

His eyes widened in slight surprise, though he couldn't necessarily disagree, your statement was a fact, and the loss still hit somewhere deep within him. Before he could even think to reply -

"I'll be going now; I hope to see you soon." You nodded before heading off back down to the building.

Aomine laid back and closed his eyes again. _"How annoying.."_

 **Akashi Seijuro**

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" A rather high pitched voice calls out to you

"Yeah yeah, I heard you the first time" you murmured as you placed your ear phones back on music blaring out, you closed your eyes and flexed your neck " _What a pain in my ass.."_

The boy talking after you was right on your heels until you abruptly stopped making him bump into your back "Miss _, this is your third warning now! We at Rakuzan High enforce a very strict dress code! Girls wear skirts and boys wear pants! I understand that you may be unaware, but there is no excuse for such insolence!"

You heaved out a heavy sigh, as you craned your neck peering down at him, he kept his gaze fixated on your pants as if he was trying to burn a hole through them but never once managed to make eye contact with you, leaning close you were a few inches from his face.

"If it makes you happy, I'll wear a skirt tomorrow, just for you senpai." you stated sweetly as you gazed at him. His face suddenly reddened "O-okay, well please keep it that way!" Though many people claim they could never tell your sincerity from your sarcasm you were quite content with that being so, you never wanted to be easy to figure out..doing so makes you very open to vulnerabilities. If people cannot predict your reactions then they can't observe your patterns, no one would ever mess with you. You turned around and went back to walking to your class, you took your usual seat, right behind a certain fiery haired man.

You never once talked to him, never once even bothered to introduce yourself or say hi, Why? it wasn't because you wanted to play it _cool_ or wanted to **impress** him, you were just painfully, painfully,

 ** _Painfully_**  
shy.  
This man was Akashi Seijuro, number one student in class, part of the student council, captain of the basketball team, holder of the most prestigious title in school, everyone knows him, and of him, and his influence was as thick and heavy as the fog that rises up the next day,after a roaring thunderstorm. Seriously, who wouldn't be intimidated by that?

As class drone on, you curiously decided to pay attention for once - not to brag of course but you weren't too shabby either, if more effort was put in and discipline was firmly instilled in you you'd probably be top of your class as well. It was a class that the teacher can easily get off track with, so you never felt the need to pay attention, the topic this time was if insects had emotions. A student swatted a fly out of the air since it was buzzing around him, and a girl remarked about how cruel it was. But for some reason you were wondering where this would go.

"And though research has not completely claim it being so, insects indeed are not known for having human-like emotions, nor do they rarely act out for others of their own kind, unless the bond was as strong as mother and newborn" The teacher stated- you rolled your eyes, as if he knew everything. Science was so trivial, the core of it was completely made up of theory after theory, and less than 50 percent of any scientific topic could actually be proven through actual experimentation, on the basis of human relations to other animals in the kingdom. We can observe their heads and dissect their minds but something in your gut was telling you that if you're not in their shoes, it would simply be too much of an inaccuracy to correctly guess.

Maybe it was the three cups of coffee you chugged this morning, but you felt like speaking up.

"I can't say I completely agree with you." You monotonously stated, " Animals, especially insects have been recorded to be altruistic creatures as well, though this was once only a human instilled belief, we have seen from ants and bees that they would gladly give up their lives for a bigger cause, or rather something else besides themselves. This can't be marked as emotions, but it is proof that all creatures have some similar habits of acting, though you are correct about there not being enough research, to simply call off any chance of them possessing emotions would be equally wrong if not - even ignorant."

There was a hushed silence, besides the quiet whispers between students and glances shared between them. The teacher too, didn't say anything. Before anything else can start up the bell has already rung.

You stood up quietly and picked up your books, rather unsure if it was the right thing to argue with him, but then again, why even care, if people can so boldly claim facts, then they should do their best to know and cover any detail before acclamation can be given to them.

You barely passed the red head's desk before he spoke out to you, "How did you know of that, _?"

 _"Huh..didn't think he would know my name, but maybe geniuses have that type of memory."_

"Well..I watch a lot of documentaries in my free time, I'm always thinking about topics such as that, how humans relate to the world around them so I try to find out as much as I can" you nodded, feeling rather oddly proud that he has asked you that, but found yourself asking again why you should even care.

Akashi gave a slight nod as he took in your answer. "Do you happen to relate well yourself?"

"Not really..I suppose that's why I wanted to know, not that I am special or anything but..I've always felt a little different and alienated especially from my peers." you cast your eyes down as you stared awkwardly at the floor, having no clue how you've even gotten yourself into this conversation.

"Perhaps if you apply yourself more, you'd keep your focus off of fitting in, and instead striving for more." You didn't know whether to take that as an insult or not, but he was probably right, maybe you focused too much on not being able to relate that you could of purposefully distanced yourself from the people around you.

 **Akashi's POV**

Staring at the girl before me, I fought back a rather amused smirk. She was different for sure, the way her eyes seem as though she is off somewhere into space, but quick to defend herself if she felt her morals and values were being attacked. I've known her for quite some time now, intelligent, but not bright. Knowledgeable but not motivated.

This was the first time I've heard her talk, let alone debate with a teacher. _"I would have said something myself if I didn't hear her inhale first.."_

Though overcome with the realization that perhaps Akashi was right you suddenly narrowed your eyes, as his made contact with yours.

"Akashi, you do not nor would you ever know me as well as I do myself. Your assumptions about the motives behind my thought process is only inaccurate, I am sorry to say." you slid the door open and as your hand was resting on the side of it you heard him speak once more, an amused smirk now fighting it's way to spread across his face.

"I know you a lot more than you think I do _."

 **Kise Ryouta**

Shrill voices, squeals, high pitched ringing echoed through your ears as you tried your best to bury yourself in your books. Day after day, nearly every other hour, hell, it has been drilled into you so strongly these voices and noises that you began hearing them in your dreams.

Valentine's Day.

"Kise-kun! Kise-kun! This is for you!" a girl shouted "No take mine first!" push. shove. More shouting.

Christmas Day.

"Merry Christmas Kise-kun! this is for you! I hope you like it!

"Kise-kun I made this myself! please accept it."

A regular school day.

"Oh look! it's Kise-kun the model I was telling you about, he looks so good today!"

"What are you talking about? he's handsome everyday~!" another girl answered.

You groaned in annoyance as you sunk your head in between your forearms, you couldn't help it - you hate loud noises. _"Well..it's not their fault that they like him..he is rather handsome..his eyes are like honey..and his smile is just as sweet.."_ your thoughts trailed off until you were suddenly moved aside stumbling backwards as your things slid across the floor, the first was a book and it happened to come into view to the magnet of these noises you so dreaded.

Kise bent down to pick up the book as he looked around "Who's book is this?" he held it up in front of his classmates, the swarm of girls rushing back towards him a cartoonish sweatdrop appeared on the back of his head as he gave a nervous smile

"It's mine!" "No, it belongs to me!"

Though he was blonde - by no means was he dumb. He thumbed the front cover opened and read the name written neatly on the bottom.

"Ah _-san! This belongs to you" he stated as he made his way miraculously over to you. "T-thanks" you quickly took the book out of his hands to avoid any contempt filled glances swung your way slowly. The second thing you hate? Attention.

He smiled warmly at you - it was then that the request to take your seats was made and he took his a row next to you - two seats ahead.

You suddenly remembered the assignment that was suppose to be given today - this was the first time in the semester that partners of two were granted for a project, although you've never been the greatest team player - you did well if lines were drawn clearly and duties were fulfilled independently - which means as little interaction as possible. This wasn't to say that you didn't like being paired up with partners - but the last few projects given, you were always stuck with the heaviest load of work.

A stern voice steered you clear of your inner preoccupation.  
"_, you have been called to the office earlier, you should go as soon as possible."

Though partners haven't been assigned yet, it was still the beginning of class, so you rushed out to the office, giving a sidelong glance at the blonde male before exiting.

You ended up there a lot longer then expected, there was a line for some reason, _"Then again I did hear something about immunization forms being compromised..it's always something though. Schools are getting way too paranoid in my opinion.."_  
By the time you went up and even more by the time you finished with such a dull business, the class was already over, " _Damn damn damn"_ flying out of the office you hastily grabbed your things and went back to the room to only find it desolate. No teacher, no students.

 _"What do I do now..? I can't just let my work load be assigned to me again.."_ you bit your bottom lip, shoulder slightly slumped you decided on walking home.

"Kise! Where are you?" a voice traveled across the hallway as you made your way out, a group of girls as always were looking for him, whether to ask him about more non- sense or give him presents in which there was no occasion for. Either way you didn't care, your only intent was to make for the exit. Halfway down pass the giddy ladies you turned a corner only to have your arm pulled backwards..

In a supply closet.

"MmmFFhh!" a hand with rather slender fingers wrapped around your mouth.

"Shh, _-san, it's just me" you recognized the voice immediately but it wasn't just who it was, you were never this close to a man before. His voiced was low and his breath teasingly breezed down your neck as you reached forward for the string to a light somehow, an arm longer then your length reached pass you to turn the switch. The hand let go and you were met face to face with the model.

"K-kise-kun, what are you doing in the supply closet?!" you loud whispered your brow knit together in surprise and confusion.

"What do you think? hiding for now. But I am happy I saw you through the crack, you weren't there when partners were assigned" your eyes inquisitively searched his "Did you happen to remember who?"

"Haha, who? Yeah, I do. You're looking right at him!" he grinned and nodded confidently, I'm sure with our combined strength we can ace this project for sure! "I bet you don't even know what we are supposed to do," you stated.

A subtle pout formed on his full lips, "I didn't take you for one to pick on me _-san.".

"Well it's not like you know me well, so you shouldn't have assumed the latter Kise-kun!" you argued back

"Of course I know you! We had that group project with two other classmates don't you remember?" he looked at you as if slightly offended but assured that this was the acceptable answer.

"Yes, and I also recall being stuck with the workload."

Kise laughed, and placed a hand on your head "How about this then _-san, since it's just you and I this time, we can actually work on this together, this way it will be even." He's never known the girl too well himself but he enjoyed her feisty personality yet it had much charm to it as well - whether for better or worse he saw you much more like a puppy instead of a girl, for once he just appreciated being able to have a normal conversation with the opposite sex besides Momoi in middle school and once in awhile now, in high school.

You skeptically looked at him, though it was a relief to know your assigned partner, you weren't exactly thrilled with it being Kise. He seems like a nice guy but what was coming was not what you looked forward to, nearly every other girl would be giving you those dagger eyes, and you weren't in the mood to be dealing with that for the next few weeks - nonetheless you were by no means a side stander, you had an assigned duty and you were determined to accomplish it. _"Watching way too many Law and Order.."_ you thought.

"So be it, I'll believe your word when I see it Kise-kun" "Until then," you continued, "I look forward to working with you!" you beamed up at him and stuck out your hand.

He blinked a few times before giving an open mouth smile, "You look so cute when you smile _-san!" his eyes became determined a moment after "I look forward to working with you as well." and with that he took your hand and you shook on it.

 **Reo Mibuchi (3 I think he is swell.)**

It was a rainy day. The clouds swarmed the skies shadowing the earth as the droplets arrow across the sides of your school window.

What an ugly sight.

It was one of those uncommon rains, though. The type where the drops were long and narrow, instead of dart and bullet like. It's windier.

A soft hand wrapped over your eyes. "Hey."

"Haha what are you doing Tsubasa?" Your boyfriend rubbed the tip of his nose up the side of your ear,

"It's rainy today, Good thing I brought an umbrella. But it looks rather unsafe..my house is closer, it's best if we wait the storm out a little longer before I walk you home." your heart blew up like a balloon hearing such kind words.

He was nice. And he was an attentive person.

"I would appreciate that Tsubasa-chan." You looped your arm around him as he pulled his elbow towards himself bringing you in closer.

"I like it when you hang on me instead _-chan.".

You sighed softly, your head resting on the palm of your right as your left went away drawing." _It was another rainy day. It's amazing, how individual events can mean something different as you move through parts of life."_

That was a few months long, that part of your life. But it was your first relationship.

He made you so happy, and you loved seeing a smile come to his face whenever you express your love to him. You were always by his side, attending his every need, his motivator, his best friend, his listening ear. "Tsu-chan I was hoping we go to the mall to-" you were cut off by his phone ringing, the vibrate shook his pants ever so light as if to tug at him with attention. He flicked it open and a look of urgency came across his face.

You just didn't understand why he tried to hide the expression, though.

"I got to take this _-chan."

"I understand."

Within the first month, while you began to see him more regularly, his phone would always do that nearly every other day, and he always disappeared for quite awhile, he said it was about his sister being in the hospital he was just always worried about her, yet never further elaborated. You've never met her yourself but you could tell she was important to him. _"I wonder when I get to meet his family."_

"We're here." he led you through the house, showing you to different parts as you reached his living room he placed his jacket on the sofa. "Take a seat; there I'll see if there's anything I can whip up for dinner real quick."

You placed yourself comfortably next to his jacket..not long before his phone began vibrating. You looked down at the caller id, it was usually this time she calls, but the name on the phone didn't match hers..for that matter. You could see the light brightly shine through his thin jacket,

 **2 New Messages!**

Flicking the phone open your eyes widen with shock feeling as if your heart has plummeted from your chest to your gut.

A strong, fiery wind of red spread across your face as you look at the messages.

It was a photo. A..bare one.

 **"Miss you! I can't wait to come see you again!"**

"...What are you doing with my phone?" a too worried tone of voice demanded.

 _"Who is this.."_

Before you could utter any reply the phone was snatched from you, his eyes scanning what was sent. He looked at you.

"_..I'm I'm sorry I never told you..but I guess I should explain, I knew one day this would happen, I was getting more attached to you then I thought.."

You didn't say anything.

"I've been dating this girl long before I met you, but she has a really busy modeling career...I got lonely" His rate sped up. "I know its no excuse to do that to you!"

"As if explaining why you know it's wrong will do you any good." You shot out coldly, your eyes narrowing, you made your way to the door, feeling more than just enough.

"_-chan! Wait!"

The rain pelted your hair as you left the other side. Perfect. No one can see the tears you so carelessly dropped.

 _"Nice guys..aren't always good ones."_

You snapped out of your thoughts as you recalled that memory. It's only been a few weeks but you didn't quite feel over it. Leaning up against the bench near the park your eyes vacantly bore into the ground.

"Hmm? What's that look on your face for?" a soft yet curious voice reached out to you. He handed you something. It was your phone. "You left in such a hurry I lost track of you for a bit". You looked up at him and took your phone your hand brushing down his palm as you retrieved it. "Thank you, I didn't realize, you didn't need to go through the trouble for me I am sure the school would of held it for me." You remembered leaving after classes ended your mind suddenly being webbed into past memories again.

"It's no stress, I was on my way here regardless. It's rather nice out isn't it?" he hummed as he looked out at the sky his raven-black hair brushing down just past his ear.

You finally took more notice of your surroundings, it was indeed - beautiful. The weather you meant.

"Reo Mibuchi." his voice echoed through your ear again.

"_ it's a pleasure to meet you." You stood up bowing politely to him "Thank you so much for this trouble. Please let me know if there is anyway I can make it up to you."

He smiled at you his eyes holding a glimmering shine. "Well then, I'll certainly keep that in mind. Until then, let's just enjoy the sight.". You weren't sure if he meant it or not, his voice was light, and flowed like a smooth melody.

 ***Fast-forward***

"_-san"

"_-san"

You snapped out of your thoughts - again.

"Yes Reo-kun?" you greeted him with a gentle smile waiting expectantly.

"Are you feeling alright? I was telling you that there's a game in a few days."

He scowled at you. "Not necessarily a nice thing to space out while I was talking you know.." "Gomen, Reo-kun. It was a thought about you if that counts for anything!" His eyes perked in amusement. "Oh? what was it about _-san?" You laughed nervously "Don't look at me like that! I was just remembering the time at the park. It looks like another nice day out."

"I understand, it is quite lovely. I think it will be like this for the rest of the week. Speaking of, are you going?" You nodded eagerly "I can't wait to attend your match! It's the semi-finals too!" He chuckled and gave a slight nod of his head.

It was always nice recalling back.

 _"My first impression.."_

 **Kuroko Tetsuya**

Your skirt swayed lightly to and fro as you flitted across the hallways down to the library. It was an average day at Seirin High but a below average for you and your grades. Sighing, you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear as you contemplated your next move. You weren't sure when it happened, but as days seem to fly by you slowly have been dropping letters in classes like flies. All you knew was that,

"I need to do something about this." you murmured to yourself as you turned a tight corner and entered through the double doors of the library.

Once inside, you cautiously inspected the entire area. There were a dozen students or so after classes, some were meeting for clubs, one hung up flyers and the librarian was pecking away on her computer, your eyes swiftly shifted to the book shelves. Combing through the columns, your forefinger barely rested on a book titled "Modern History of Japan". As you attempted to reach, and on your toes, the shelf began to hold your weight and you nearly toppled over it if it weren't for a firm arm around your waist, it retracted and you turned around to meet azure eyes like a cloudless sky, with your own _ ones. He blinked once before asking.

"Are you alright?" your cheeks were tinted red with slight surprise. "Yes, I believe I'm fine, thanks..It's just uh.." You turned around to hide your blush and looked up.

"I was trying to get to that book up there but I can't seem to reach it." He moved his eyes from you to the book. The blue haired man then leaned forward, a few inches from your back, his shoulder hovered over yours and extended an arm to retrieve it. You felt the heat from his chest and the rustling of his jacket as he moved back and handed it to you.

"Thanks, I appreciate it." You gave a gentle smile and he exchanged the same. "My name is _ by the way." "Kuroko Tetsuya" He extended a hand in which you both shook, the warm and smooth skin brushing over yours. "Are you studying?" he inquired as he looked down at your arms. "Yeah, I'm failing history class.." He nodded,you both walked to one of the tables. As you sat down, he shifted his leg,his phone vibrating. The screen lit up as he knitted his eyebrows together. "Sorry _-san, give me a moment." You watched his retreating figure stepping out of the library. Sinking back in your seat, you marveled at the sheer length of Kuroko's I mean the bulk of the textbook.

 _"How long is it going to take to read this? Quite honestly I need post-it notes, and maybe a highlighter...wait am I allowed to highlight a book? Probably not, school property.."_

You nibbled the end of your pen as you flipped through the pages idly, your eyes meeting the door every once and awhile to see if he would come back or not. Not that you would care, well that much that is. It didn't seem to matter really where he is or what he's doing but you have heard stories about Kuroko before, considering the fact that he was on Seirin high's basketball team and everyone is wild about it. Suddenly you heard a shout.

"Ew It's disgusting! Kill it kill it!"

a female voice disrupted your thoughts as you looked to your right. A few tables over two students were screaming, a spider crawled over the top of the table. The librarian told them to hush and began making her way over there. At the same time Kuroko came back in, one of the students nearly slammed the library book on the little arachnid. You quietly stepped over beside her and wrapped your hand around her elbow. She glanced sideways and directed her voice at you. "What are you doing?! I'm trying to do something here!" you trapped the spider between your hands as you closed one hand on top of it.

"You shouldn't kill something because it looks nasty you know." You chastised the girl sternly while her shaking friend was about to burst into tears.

"You're so disgusting, how can you hold that thing!" she retorted giving a repulsive look at your hands. Kuroko then took the book from her.

"This is school property, you would of gotten in trouble for creating such a commotion anyway." his calm demeanor and vacant expressionless look was far from interpretation.

The girls immediately nodded. "Thank you Kuroko-kun! you're right we would of gotten kicked out."

Meanwhile, you moved to an open window to let the critter crawl out onto the sides of the building. Kuroko appeared behind you

"Do you like spiders?" he asked innocently. You closed the window with a _click._ The library has returned to near silence now, the murmurs and whispers of students leaving with them as the place became less populated.

"I generally like all life, or I at least don't mind them. It might sound silly, but it seems kind of sad for something to die just because it made it's way to a place where it didn't realize it was unwanted."

An expression flickered across Kuroko's face that seemed unreadable to you. A moment passed before a slight and subtle curve of a smile angled it's way up. "I don't think its silly." was his only reply.

He then handed the history book to you. "You left it behind, I wasn't sure if you still wanted it or not." You smiled as you took it from him, both of you headed to the front desk as you checked out.

"Kuroko-kun, right?" He nodded. "You can just call me Kuroko, if you want." you hesitated at his impersonal implication of a personal name. "You - you sure about that? you and I are just strangers." "Technically not, strangers don't know one another's names."

You laughed. "You know what I mean."

He tilted his head at you. "If you need help studying, I don't mind giving you pointers."

You both made it to the front of the school, wind moving the leaves along outside.

"I appreciate it, but I really wouldn't want to take much of your time, my grades are my own responsibility."

"I agree, but the offer is there, if you want it."

"Thank you, maybe we can meet around the -" Your phone began beeping. You looked at it to realized the time and an unread message. "Oh god! I forgot, I gotta go!" You placed the books in your backpack and slid your phone in your pocket. "I'm late for work! It was nice meeting you Kuroko!"

Kuroko blinked a few times as he waved to your retreating figure.

 _"That was sudden.."_ he thought.


	2. A Camaraderie

**Imayoshi Shoichi**

 _"..."  
Tap _

A finger flicked the back of your head making your eyes flutter open. "Mmh..can I help you?" you murmured  
"Iam the one helping you," Imayoshi replied.

You looked up to see the instructor weighing you with a stoic stare about to say something. You sat up and gave a slight nod in apology to which he resumed his speech. You gave a back glance to the male taking him in, his glasses glinting with the reflection of the overhead lights. Not much has changed besides time, occasionally you two would greet each other in the morning, talk about mundane topics such as the weather, or the recent match. But over time it became an everyday thing, and much has crossed your mind, however being nervous about frequent socialization isn't a bad thing.

Once class ended you still didn't find yourself paying much attention, though you got over your illness awhile ago, it felt like you were afflicted with something. Before you stood up from your desk, you heard a voice behind you.

"You're such a slacker, _-san." he chuckled quietly stating it just loud enough for you to hear. Your mouth thinned into a line, he knows better than to say that, when you grade each other's quizzes you ace it every time.

He leaned forward his voice suddenly becoming very close to your ear "You owe me one now." a sly grin appeared on his face as he waited for a reply.

"W-what would you want from me?" "Hmm.." he tapped his chin with his pointer eyeing you carefully. "I could use some help with Student Council, just to organize some papers" he shrugged his shoulders casually as he stood up.

 _Innocent enough._

"Well I'll be glad to help out." you stood up next to him. A grin couldn't help but appear on his face "Wonderful. Come after hours tomorrow."

-The next few days-

The sun was just within eye length again. You met Imayoshi as always, assigned to a different task each time. "Good evening Imayoshi-kun."

"Ah, _-san~, you came." he greeted, "Collect those files over there, I'll show you exactly what to do."

You followed his instruction and placed it onto the main desk, he hovered near you, his height made him loom over your shoulder slightly as he explained what to do, you attempted to keep your focus on the papers he's gesturing to, but your gaze was fixated back and fourth landing on the space between his collar bone and your face.

"My _apologies._ " he quietly chimed in as a took a side long step, appearing next to you.  
As if reading your mind, he must have noticed he was close to you. However, his tone was light, with a subtle undertone of. _..mockery?_  
You blushed lightly "I think I got it, thank you." he nodded and strolled across the room as the door was opening - more members came in.

You devoted time to organizing each and every one and filing it neatly in the cabinet - followed by date, time, and event. You even took the time to color coding each section. You nodded your head with approval as you slid the last folder in. Even during this process you were watching Imayoshi, and he would occasionally meet your glance in which he returned with a smile, your only way of reciprocating was to turn away smiling in spite of yourself.

 _"How weird."_

 _"_ Very commendable work." A quiet voice came from behind you as a whisper near your ear. You shot up. "H-hai! Imayoshi-kun! it was not a problem. I suppose I should get going now" you turned and gave a farewell, clearly done for the day. A lot, at least to you has happened, you felt unusual..your reactions to him, sporadic. Before you could take a step further a tug at your wrist caught your attention leaning in he said "Call me Shoichi."

You nodded, a smile still plastered on his face.

 **Kiyoshi Teppei**

"Hey _-san!" a long arm waved to you from down the hallway.

"Teppei-kun, How are you?" you greeted as you reached close to a foot across from him, craning your neck to look slightly up, he was nearly two heads taller than you. He followed next to you as he walked you to your next and last class.

"Teppei-kun, you don't always need to take me to my classes." You smiled gently, "People are starting to wonder if we're dating."

He blinked and tilted his head at you "Oh yeah? I don't mind a rumor like that going around!" he teased you as he continued looking forward. You laughed slightly, "Don't say things like that!" It's been a week or so since you became familiar with all the parts of school, he would show you places as you pass by, or take you to your class. You two were good with conversation and it seemed to flow naturally. You became very familiar with his facial expressions..the way he laughs or how he smiles at you. As you two ended in the front of your classroom you waved at him. "_-san, wait for a moment." His voice became slightly serious.

"Did you not want me to take you to your classes anymore?" he asked curiously. You've never seen his face turn slightly rigid before so you let out a laugh. "No, I don't mind, just don't be late for yours," you replied firmly. He only nodded before returning your wave.

The door slid open as students filed out of your room, you searched for Teppei, looking forward to walking with him. Though he was in no line of sight you started your way out the building. Turning down the last hallway you suddenly were met with someone appearing in front of you. Your eyes widened as you took a hasty step back. "You scared me you nut!" you nearly shouted. Teppei met your outburst with hands back as he gave a apologetic nod "Gomen, Gomen." His eyes bore into yours " I was looking for you."

"Oh? Is everything okay?" You voiced your concern as you met his stare expectantly. He leaned down suddenly close to your face. _"G-geez he makes such unpredictable moves.."_ "_-san.. I can see my reflection in your eyes" he observed as he looked closely at you. You peered at him "Baka! What did you need me for?"

"Ha haha! I was just wondering if you were hungry, I was planning to grab something." The noises of other students bustled by, doors swung open back and fourth, time seemed reasonable, but it felt a little slower to you. Maybe it was because you were hungry. "Sounds like a plan!"

You two continued on your way down the street, him walking on the outside as he guided you through the crowds. "I don't believe that! They were playing unfairly?" "Yeah, but we managed to overcome it" he responded. He was near the end of telling you about his match with Kirisaki Daichi high. Once you reached your destination, he held the door open for you.

"One strawberry milkshake please!" you piped up as the cashier nodded his head. "Make it two," he affirmed, handing more than his fair amount of cash. Before you could say anything, his smile radiated from his face. "It's my treat today" he grinned.

You happily finished your milkshake as you reached a bridge overlooking the sunset, you and Teppei were talking about basketball - among other things like his childhood and grandparents.  
"Thank you! I'll be sure to get you next time," you said as you reached the bus stop, his smile grew silly. "There's a next time huh? I'll look forward to it" he replied with a friendly tone.

He leaned his right arm casually over the side of your head against the sign and looked down slightly, meeting your face again. "I'm glad you finally feel familiar with Seirin high." _So close to such a casual statement.."_  
He must have waited until you told him verbally that you felt confident navigating the school, would he have done it for as long as needed?

An engine was heard from a short distance.

"It's thanks to you as w-well, I'll be there for tomorrow's match by the way!" you blurted. It was nerve racking, maybe it was perverse to think of but you found him absolutely attractive, he was friendly, he was playful and he made you feel secure. You at least wanted to return something back, your support. "That's great! I'll introduce you to my teammates." his eyes reflected that of slight childishness but you felt affected by his enthusiasm.

The doors to the bus slid open.

"See you tomorrow Teppei."

 **Midorima Shintaro**

"Midorima-kun! What's my horoscope say today?" you eagerly pressed as you skipped up to greet his side.

He sighed. "It's not my job to check for you _." _Though he reads yours every day anyway._ With no such knowledge, you nodded your head. "You're right, I should look at it for myself, but so, what did yours say today?"  
"Why would you want to know?" you looked at him as if he was clueless.

"Because I want to get to know you," he responded with surprise. "D-don't be ridiculous. " he narrowed his eyes, though you couldn't see well while being directly next to him, his cheeks were a pinkish hue. "There's not much to know about me by just reading it."

"You don't talk much you know." you pouted. _"It's not my fault you hang consistently to my side,"_ he thought. "I don't have much to say, nanodayo!"he sighed exasperatedly. A few moments of silence passes by as you two continue walking. It has been only a handful of times you two have walked together but he never seemed to mind your company - nor necessarily encouraged it. It felt as if he could do with or without though you only presumed that it was just how he was. You met his friend Takao before. And you two got along better then you and Midorima, though you didn't want to give up, he just takes time to get to know, and you had time. You both reached a vending machine as a can of red bean soup popped out at the bottom.

 _"Clink."_

 _"Clink."_

 _"Wait, another clink?"_ you thought. "Are you just going to stare?" he irritably as he handed you the can. "It's hot today; I don't want to be responsible for you passing out." You gratefully took the can and thanked him. "I've never tried red bean soup before, but I appreciate it!" he hmm-ed at your reply. As you continued, you weren't sure what to say to him, so in fact decided to fall slightly behind concentrating on the back of his neck. You both left the school and made it down at the end of the steps. He suddenly stopped making you bump your nose into his shoulder blade.

"..I play shogi in my free time." You spent a long time staring at him before your mouth opened widely,"Ahahaha! That was _so_ random Midorima-kun! An extended period of time with nothing said and you say that?!" you broke into a fit of giggles. He blushed furiously before turning down to look sternly at you. "You told me you wanted to get to know me!" he accused as you followed after him. "I'm just teasing! I've always wanted to learn how to play myself, how long have you been playing?" you inquired. The sun was still high in the sky, the days were getting longer, and the reflection of his glasses gleamed as he pushed it up with his ring finger. " It's been awhile since I found the time to." You were waiting for your friend to arrive so you could walk home together, Midorima usually followed you out before he went to basketball practice.

You tugged at his arm, "Maybe you can teach me some time!" Though he didn't reply, you had a feeling it wasn't a no.

A figure came within distance. You saw that your friend made her way to you. "_-san, are you ready?" she turned to Midorima and bowed "Hello Midorima-kun" she greeted. To which he nodded. You turned back to him as you tracked distance and waved your hand just as he was turning to make his way into the building again.

At the end of the next day, you found him waiting for you at the school entrance.

"_-san." he looked at you before quietly asking, "Are you busy today?" you smiled while moving slightly inward towards him to let the other students pass by. "Not at all Midorima-kun, what can I do for you?" he averted his eyes "You wanted to learn how to play, didn't you?" Recalling the memory from before you perked up excitedly "You remembered! "

During the earlier parts of the day you haven't seen much of Midorima, nor every day anyway, but it came as a surprise to see him _waiting for you._ Though it didn't seem obvious at first you were confident - and happy to know that he was getting a little more comfortable with you. It wasn't without a good amount of effort on your part but him, and now Takao has been the only people with whom you talked to with and occasionally your other friends if they weren't busy. Though you became fond of the two, you became especially attached to Midorima's company. He was quite different when he was with other people as when he was alone with you. Despite his aloofness, he was just subtle with his kindness.

Midorima led you into the library in which you two spent the next hour and a half playing matches with one another. To your disagreement, you lost every time. "You're getting better, at least by a little."

You smiled at his reassurance.

 **Aomine Daiki**

Aomine's days have been getting rather boring.

He didn't have Satsuki as a distraction anymore - since she has been busy with you at practice. Though he was not one to get lonely, he did wonder if he'd feel up to going today. He yawned before sitting up. His shoes hit the ground with a thud as he made his way downward.

There was the sound of sneakers squeaking across the gymnasium floors as you held your clipboard close to your chest You scanned across the area observing their practice in silence. You were rather reluctant coming in but have grown used to the regularity of each practice, soon becoming aware of the regimen, and assisting Momoi in the devising of approach and strategy. It wasn't too challenging, though it did take up a lot of your time. The team didn't really revolve around being a "team" but you were now newly aware of their differences since their previous mistakes, at first it was rather a struggle getting them to work together - but they arrive with new found determination with each practice, still lamenting over their wounded pride. The gym doors were swung widely open as a sure ace made his way in. "Daiki-chan!" Momoi greeted with slight surprise as she looked up at him. He strolled his way over closing distance as he appeared in front of you and Momoi. "Hey." he looked over at the court. Sakurai was rubbing his eyes to make sure he was actually witnessing _Aomine attend practice, e_ ven Wakamatsu had his mouth agape. Imayoshi leaned back to whisper to them "This is about to get interesting." he gave a mischievous chuckle.

"What's going on?" he asked half heartily as he turned to face you. _"He wants an answer from me?"_ "We are just scrimmaging, trying out some different passes." Momoi answered for you. He only give a single nod of his head before going to the court. For the rest of the time after, he participated in single minded effort. You couldn't help but feel slightly happy - it's not clear if you should have any credit, though you did enjoy seeing their growing improvement. Just after practice, you helped cleaned up and put the equipment away. Momoi and Aomine met you at the gym doors as you exited together. You can only stay in comfortable silence hearing them chatter between each other, Momoi occasionally asking you your opinion, or your side on something. The first stop was her house.

"Bye _-san! See you later!" she turned to Aomine "Dai-chan, _ lives a little more past my house you should take her the rest of the way there." she nodded before waving and closing the door on you both. "I was planning to anyway." he snorted as he started his way to the direction she pointed at. You quickly caught up to him as you two walked in some awkward silence. "What are you staring at me like that for?" he inquired cocking an eyebrow in your direction. "O-oh, I was just wondering where you live.." "Nothing you have to worry about" he replied as you both looked forward weaving through some kids on the other side of the sidewalk.

It was that when your stomach growled. He looked at you with amusement as his eyes traveled down from your chest to your belly. "Hungry huh?" he fished in his pocket for a granola bar and handed it to you. "Take it" he urged as you spent some time staring at it. "I- I don't need it, it's fine". He grunted before pausing, he stood before you a smirk appearing on his lips. "Alrighty then, I'll just eat it now." He slowly opened the wrapper as you two continued to make your way to your house. You stared at him eating it - very slowly the entire time as he kept eye contact with yours. It was a rather funny sight but regardless you were aware of what he was doing. Before you said anything it once again appeared in front of your face, though he made no eye contact he tilted his arm over to you waiting for you to take half of it.

"Thank you." you responded to his gesture as you shared what was left.

"You play basketball at all, " he asked with a monotone voice, it seemed as if he was trying to stimulate conversation, only a short distance away from your house you slowed down a bit - and noticed that he did too.

"Yes, I did for awhile in my free time in middle school." "Were you any good? you look a little small to me." he looked down at you his eyes resting on your physique as you appeared at the front of the door steps. "If you'd find some time, we should play then" you challenged. He laughed - genuinely laughed before waving his hand off "I'll doubt you do any good against me" he walked a quarter of the way down the street before turning, "But we'll see."

"Thank you for walking me home!" you called out. Though your face twitched with annoyance after.

 **Akashi Seijuro**

The week passed by as they usually do, you would enter the class, see the redhead and sit behind him. With each passing day, it seems as though the confrontation you had with him was less and less existent. There was no further associating, and you tend to mind your own business anyway. It didn't stop you from observing him, though, he'd play shogi with himself during some free periods, or spend his time doing work intended for home. Either way, you maintained the same level of curiosity as before.

It was then that a classmate stood in front of you. Or at least to the side. The one occupying your front view was Akashi, of course. "_-san", he greeted. "Hello Ryu-kun" you said warmly. "I was wanting to ask you, I need some help setting up the photography club after school, would you mind?" _"How unusual."_ you thought. Ryu was someone you knew but not well, he can only assume you were joining because you owned a camera yourself. "I'd have to think about that.." you murmured as you scratched the back of your head. You usually don't do things like that, it never really struck you as something you'd share conversations with others over. Photography was more like a solo thing - something you do when you capture the beauty at a given moment. "It's no problem if you're not able to" he gave a reassuring smile, before returning to his seat.

You took your time wandering the halls after class has ended. The only contact in which you recalled making with Akashi wasn't even exchanged with spoken words, though it was a surprise. Or you were reading too much into it. You only dropped your pencil and it happened to to roll into his view. It was far enough away from you but close enough to him in which you would be seen if you were to pick it up. It laid there for a few minutes, as you contemplated on what to do - it wasn't like you need it, _"Would it look weird if I didn't pick it up?"_ you mentally sighed.

 _ **"Perhaps if you apply yourself more, you'd keep your focus off of fitting in, and instead striving for more."**_

You recalled his piece of advice. _"I guess I do over think some things.."_ As the instructor turned his back, you watched Akashi smoothly bent his arm down and picked up your pencil, lifting it above his shoulder without saying anything. You took it from his hand, and that was that.

"Hey, thanks for deciding to help out _-san!" Ryu patted your back as you moved some boxes inside the classroom closet. "Yeah, no worries, I would feel sorry if I didn't, to be honest." You sheepishly laughed, after all even with no clue about how to make friends, it's still pretty easy to be a good girl. As you exited the classroom, you bent over the fountain.

"You changed your mind." a voice rung through your awareness.

You angled your shoulder to your lips when you were done, lifting your face up to meet the gaze of Rakuzan's captain. He had his arms casually crossed over as a he leaned outside of another classroom. You blinked, "Akashi-kun.." you continued with a firmer voice. "Well..I didn't have anything else to do."He tilted his head. "That's your reasoning? If I were to request you myself would you do the same then?" It wasn't that Akashi needed help from you, but since your little retort to him awhile back he has wondered why the boy could win over your compliance so easily. Afterall, no one says no to him.

You thought of your answer before replying. "If you came to me believing I would be the best fit for the job, then I wouldn't deny assisting you." His elegant face angled into a small smirk. "You speak highly _-san." That pleased him for some reason. You noticed this when you talk to him more respectfully then you'd usually acquainted him with. It was probably because in a way - you felt rather apologetic, he wasn't wrong about his assumptions with you but you, willingly denied them anyway.

"If you're looking for something to do after school, notify me, after all" his eyes glimmered with a teasing edge as he continued."You would want to help with anything if you had free time right?" feeling little choice, you accepted his proposal.

"Good, be here tomorrow. I do expect you on time. ". he left without another word. You rubbed the side of your head, _"I really gotta learn to say no.."_

You were nearly a minute late when you met Akashi again. Why you were running you had no idea - maybe you just didn't want to face the result of doing the opposite of his expectation. Akashi was already there, meeting your gaze as you slowed your pace up to him. He didn't say a word, only turned and began walking. Your steps fell into sync with him as you reached your destination.

You didn't understand it. Why were you following him? What were you trying to do? You hardly knew this man very well, yet something about him compels you to _obey_ him. Perhaps in a way you felt honored for even being noticed by him - but the idea of feeding his arrogance and sense of idealism made you scoff. It's hard to feel admiration for someone who's come to expect it so readily.

You both entered a classroom - where he sat across a desk from you. An array of papers were neatly organized in small stacks before you. He lifted a piece of paper up - with a number of problems, and handed it to you. "Do this for me, won't you?" his eyes were expectant, you took the paper even if you were clearly puzzled by his request. Your _ eyes swept across the page. "Why are you asking me to do this?" he sighed "Just do it _." his voice was slightly indignant. You decided to complete the page, as he was leaning across from you waiting patiently.

Twenty minutes has passed before you handed it back to him. He took his time looking for your answers. "Akashi please answer me now - Why did you ask me to solve those?" His eyes swiveled his way to yours. "We are in the midst of creating an academic team, and I was assigned to search for recruits." you gave him a blank stare wondering why the hell he just couldn't tell you that in the first place. "It's not all in place yet, however. But testing for potential candidates can project an outlook for it's success." He didn't even ask if you wanted to join! "How would you know I would even be interested?" A soft chuckle left his lips. "_, you don't need to be interested - not at first anyway, Eventually you will join." _"There's that smug look on his face again!"_

"Besides..you've done pretty well within this time lot if you were more disciplined you can complete this in a shorter time." His encouragement was rather complimentary, not sure if he meant it or not you felt yourself _wanting_ to improve. Maybe because smarts is something you especially excel in, you were a quick learner, and you had a good memory. It was a bit later now, and you gathered your things. "Come again tomorrow _, perhaps we can work on this together."

As you walked home, you were held deep in thought, definitely having no clue as to why he chose you of all people, to begin with. But if it was anyone that was able to surface a person's behavior it was him.

 **Kise Ryouta**

"Would you like anything else, Kise? A refreshment perhaps?" You sighed as your mom was practically ogling the man sitting across your dinner table. This was the third night Kise has come to your house to work on the project, and the third time he was over for dinner. Though you much rather go to his place he insisted on yours based on proximity. She set the glass down as he graciously accepted it. "Your mom's real nice _-san" he whispered as you tried to save your papers from being attacked by drops of water condensing outside the glass.

"Yeah..well she's just excited I have a friend." he laughed. "I am excited I have a friend too" he cheekily replied. It's been some odd nights that you two worked on this together - and it was going rather really well. If he wasn't with you then you both worked on it through the phone, if there was any free periods he would be there at the library with you. Contrary to much of your doubt he actually kept through on his word to help you any way he can. Even with the looks other students give you, you found yourself enjoying your time with Kise. The more you were with him the more you appreciated it - though it was never an expectation of yours. You knew he was busy, and you had your own time you enjoyed as well.

That was the last time you recalled him helping you again. The remaining week and after he was barely around not even in the class on a single occasion. _"I knew that was too good to be true."_ you shook your head in annoyance as you made your way through the hallway. You were halfway done with the project, yet Kise was nowhere in sight. He barely answers his phone, and you only sent him a single message, and you were not about to play cat and mouse with him. "I'll just finish this up tonight then." you said aloud.

As you entered the classroom, you head Kise's voice rung out to you. "_-san!" but you heeded no reply. Before he can continue, he was once again crowded with different voices. You only stared straight ahead as you waited at your desk for the class to begin.

 **One new message.**

 **"_-san, do you have a minute after class?"** Kise stared from a distance as he finished his exchange. You only glanced at your phone before looking back ahead again. An obvious huff of air exited his lungs as he leaned back waiting for the class to end.

You watched the clock tick to its final second. But his speed was not to be undermined. He stood before your desk eyes narrowing at you. "Why are you ignoring me" he stated his question with attempted casualty but struggled sounding strained at the end.

"Kise-kun, have you forgotten what you said to me?" "Of course not, but you're not even going to let me explain?" you looked away " I was only going just to finish it myself it's really no big deal, now can we talk later or something?" your skin felt hot as a mini crowd of girls hovered slightly over from the other side. A girl approached you two.

"Kise-kun," "Come with me _-san." before the girl can continue her sentence Kise already had you by the wrist gently tugging you to his direction out of the classroom.

You blushed slightly. He let go of your wrist the second you both exited the school. "W-why" - "I wanted a chance to speak with you," he answered. "Let's work on it today; I'm sorry I haven't had the time." You shrugged your shoulders "It's not..a big deal really." you repeated."So now you're not going to let me keep my word?" he retorted. "How unfair."

His cheeks puffed as he gazed at you. You looked at his face. His very handsome face. "I'll take you to my place this time" he persuaded. "Alright alright." you gave in." Let's get a move on then." He smiled widely. "Glad you came around so quick~" and tugged on your elbow as you both made your way. It was hard denying him. His charm was powerful. Within an estimate of about a half hour, his house was within a few yards.  
You took your shoes off upon entering his home. It was a very modern design and sparsely furnished. Instead of settling in his living room, though, he opened the door to his room instead.

 _"I never been in a guy's room before.."_ He turned to face you, awaiting your entrance as he took the first few steps in. To no expectation, you noticed how neat it was. Trophies were hung tastefully on one side of his wall, and a few modeling portraits were across the other side. Once the door was closed you were suddenly met slightly backing up against the wall. "_-san." his voice was low. "K-kise-kun?" you stuttered as you took a step back meeting the firm surface. "I don't really appreciate it when you pretend to not hear me. If you have a problem with me you should confront me about it instead of making me drag it out of you."

You haven't seen this side of him before, but his eyes held a certain seriousness and intensity that can only be matched when he was in a game. You didn't realize how quickly his ego could be hurt nor understood how deeply he regarded respect. "Gomen, Kise-kun, you're right." you straightened your back as you said this with firm sincerity, the atmosphere becoming visibly less tense as he balanced your apology for a bit. Then his face lightened up before ruffling your hair. "It's okay _-san! I'm glad you took me seriously! Let's get down to it then" he winked at you before pulling things out of his backpack. For the rest of the night you two managed to make great strides, to where the only initiative left was to revise and check over for errors. It could be saved for another day though. You yawned tiredly as you stood up to stretch your legs. Kise has maintained being his usual friendly and carefree self and that was all that mattered to you - seeing his other side earlier made you a little weary of him. But looking back at the male it seemed like it never even happened.

"You should stay here for the night, tomorrow is a Saturday." he offered as he followed you down his hallway. You turned to him "Don't you live with your family?" "Just a sister, the other one is traveling abroad, and the one that lives with me usually only comes home on some nights." "Do you have a guest room?" he nodded as he gestured to the room across from him. You bit the inside of your bottom lip. Spending a night at his house? was it really something necessary? looking at the time you realized it was already 1:20 a.m. Your place was most likely locked and your parent's weren't akin to waking up. You called to leave them a message before returning to him.

He leaned on your door frame.  
"Good night..._cchi." He smiled. "Good night" you replied before meeting your bed. _"Wait.._cchi?!"_

 **Reo Mibuchi**

You stopped by to visit his basketball practice today. Reo waved you over as you shyly came up to him and his teammates. You brought sliced lemons and honey again - a favorite that Reo has requested from you since you offered it to him during lunch last time. Akashi seemed to tolerate you, as it wasn't always an everyday occurrence that you came. "Hey _-san!" Hayama shouted as he eyed your lemon slices with a predatory gaze. Eikichi firmly gave you a single pat on the back as he picked up the first one. "Easy, easy there's such thing as personal space" Reo exclaimed placing his hands on your shoulders. "Don't crowd _-san." You laughed it off as you handed the container to Hayama, where it was tugged out of his hands. "Reo-nee! Nebuya-san is taking all of _**them!**_ " his whining voice met unheard ears as Reo turned to look down at you. "How are you feeling today _-san? I see that you're smiling more."

He was right. During the first few times you would have platonic conversations, it was always hard to hide your facial expressions with him, you enjoyed his company, and when you two happened to bump into each other he's always the first one to greet you, stopping to chat awhile before continuing by. With each day that passes, as you get further away from memories of Tsubasa, your nature gradually changed into your old ways again - though it was still pretty challenging to feel back to normal. It has helped, even the smallest distractions that Reo gave you. He has been nothing but friendly, and you were pretty sure he was just being nice out of consideration for you. "I'm doing better thank you Reo-kun, I just wanted to stop by to say hello." He nodded. "It was good to see you, be safe." You waved at him before greeting Akashi as you left the gym.

It was cold, more than usual. Your cheeks were slightly red as you walked down the street, covering your face with a scarf to blunt the icy sensation. Even having Reo to talk to, and witnessing the occasional antics of his teammates you were still grappling with the overwhelming feeling of loneliness - it seemed to reach a fever pitch as you made an abrupt stop, staring extra long at the sight before you. There, under a faded streetlamp which was illuminated early - just before dusk was arriving you saw Tsubasa, and he was with- _"That's his girlfriend.."_ You suddenly spun on your heel and turned back, not wanting to cross directions with them. A sharp prick made it's way over the entire span of your heart - as you've done a mental effort to erase the image from your mind. "Did you forget something?" As always, and on time Reo met your sight again, making his way out of basketball practice he held the empty container out to you. You hastily took it and continued walking past him. "_-san!" he called after you.

But you broke out into a sprint instead. You couldn't let him see you like this. If he could see how weak you were right now..he might just feel even worse for you and the last thing you ever wanted was more pity. You spent the majority of the last few days avoiding the whispers and voices spread

"I feel so bad for her"

"Yes I heard about it too." another voice chimed in.

All it was for the entire day after your break up was pity filled glances and nosy whispers about what happened with their classmate, awkwardly enough you still shared the same class as Tsubasa, so the change in both your behaviors can only lead to multiple speculations.

"_-san." your eyes widened in shock. You thought you lost him. "Reo-kun..This isn't the time to talk right now." He kept his mouth close rather unsure of what to say. "Well, if you want to talk about something I can listen." he offered. You teared up. "I don't need your pity Reo-kun." "There is no pity here." he registered the sentence fast after your reply as if predicting it's manifestation. "If you are considerate to me, then I'll return to the gesture." his voice softened slightly. "If you need assistance, there's nothing wrong with asking for it you know."

As you turned to face him, his expression visibly tensed. Though you haven't felt you known him long enough, you decided to tell him anyway. "Well.I was in a relationship, awhile ago." You explained. You did this while you were walking side by side with him, his attentive ear trained on you as he kept silent through your narrating.

After it had ended, Reo clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Well, that certainly is not a way to treat a lady," then he gave you a gentle smile as his soft eyes landed on you. "Especially one as thoughtful and considerate as yourself." "Thank you for listening to me Reo-kun..it helped a lot more to be able to talk about it with someone." His gaze becomes solemn. "_-san, you shouldn't avoid listening to your gut just because you don't want to believe it, sometimes we have to face severe opposition if we want to overcome them." _"Am..am I being lectured?"_  
You appreciated his concern, though, through meeting his teammates you found out that this was how he showed he cared.

"Reo-kun I am lucky to have met someone like you." the sentiment tumbled out before you could think twice of what you said. "I didn't do anything. It's not hard to listen to someone, besides I have a feeling I only told you something you could have figured out for yourself." You two have made your way back to the school and passed the street lamp, the one where Tsubasa was, only to see him gone. "I'll be okay from here Reo-kun" "Are you sure? I don't mind taking you the rest of the way."

You gave him a reassuring smile. "Yeah don't worry about it. I am in much higher spirits thanks to you."

"It's my pleasure dear _-san, Time doesn't have to prove to me that you're a kind and sweet girl, so feel better alright?"

He smiled, his eyes were filled with reverence as he straightened a lock of hair out of your face. "See you tomorrow."

 **Kuroko Tetsuya**

Little screams and shouts filled the room as you ran around trying to clean everything up. The walls were splattered with bits and strips of paint, and the children were tumbling and rough housing all over the colorful and alphabetized carpet filled with pictures. It seemed like no matter what you were doing, you were always handling something. Be it the shy boy who refused to make friends or the two girls who wouldn't stop fighting over crayons. "Now now guys don't do that! You'll break the crayons then no one can use them!" "But _! If we break them in half we can both use them." You shook your head as you placed your hands on your hips. _"Well actually, that **would** work"_ you thought. Crouching down, you proceeded to chide them into sharing. You worked at a daycare center that watches kids up to 5 years old, the entire facility is run by your Aunt, who gave you a part time job here after school, and occasionally on weekends. Besides school and work, you really had no time to study, thus explained your failing grades.

You were passionate about working with kids for a long time, your knack for diffusing situations and solving problems helped a lot with handling people, especially children. The middle child of your family, the mediator, the responsible one, you were in charge of it all. You directed your attention to Hyosuke - a shy brown haired boy standing in the corner, idly watching the other kids play. You smiled and slowly approached him. "Hyosuke, why don't you go play with the others?" he crossed his arms defiantly and shook his head. Though, reflected in his eyes was the desire to have fun, and feel the feelings of happiness and ease his fellow peers were experiencing. "It's fun to play together with friends." He stared back at you. "I don't want to have friends!" he then turned on his heel and disappeared from you. You shook your head as you picked up ripped up pieces of paper. Rather empathetic, you were well aware of what it was like to feel lonely. Shuffling on your feet, you picked up a sponge from the sink and began wiping down the walls. The kids ran around, rambunctious and full of what seemed like the power of 20 energy drinks as they brushed past you, occasionally tugging on your apron and asking that you play.

The entire day flew by fluidly, as the parents came by to collect their little turds, ahem, darlings and returned home. Hyosuke was the last to be picked up, sitting in a desolate corner of the room he grudgingly stared at the door waiting for his busy mother to come pick him up. This happened often, she often arrived right at closing or 15 minutes late to get him, her hair in shambles, clothes in disarray and speaking at an incoherent rate, your heart went out to her, it wasn't easy being a single mother, for her or Hyosuke. You pointed at a chair adjacent to him. "May I sit here?" He reluctantly nodded. You then began taking out a piece of paper and crayon and began drawing the outline of a house and tree, casually peering over he stared at it. "What are you drawing?" "This." you showed him the outline, he squinted. "You need to put more detail in that." he replied. you giggled slightly and took out a few more crayons. "Won't you help me then?" shrugging his shoulders he picked a blue one up. "I guess so." Until the time came, his mother arrived, and he went home with the drawing you two worked on together.

The weekend past without a hitch, Saturday was spent working and Sunday was spent studying, or at least attempting to study. Mornings were your favorite, and best part of the day. You entered and weaved through the crowd of kids in school as you attended first period. second. third. fourth. Lunch time arrived and you sat alone near the entrance of the cafeteria, flipping through the book, and chewing on a piece of bread. A tray clattered in front of you making you look up. A large somewhat intimidating looking boy and -

"Kuroko. Good to see you" You greeted. Kuroko smiled and gestured to his grouchy looking friend. "This is Kagami Taiga, my friend". Kagami grunted at you, clearly grumpy that he was starving and needed to eat, without a word he sat down and began inhaling his food like a black hole. Before sitting Kuroko looked over your face. "Do you mind if we sit?" shaking your head you motioned to the table. "Be my guest." You closed your book and placed it back in your bag as you began opening your bagged lunch. Kuroko sat in the middle between you two and looked at your lunch. "You make your own lunch?"

"When I have the time to." You broke off another piece of bread and popped it in your mouth. This was rather unusual as you weren't used to sitting with people all the time, usually you shoo your friends away when you need to study. You and Kuroko took your leisure in eating as Kagami finished and looked at you. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend Kuroko." Kagami remarked casually. You stopped chewing and swallowed, about to answer Kuroko finished for you. "_-san and I are just friends, we met last week actually." He leaned back and shrugged, "Yeah I wouldn't assume you had the ability to get one" he joked. You then asked "Do you have one Kagami-kun?" Kuroko made no expression but gave a small smile. "Well..uh, not really no but I could easily if I wanted to!" he replied defensively. You covered your mouth laughing as he sheepishly stood up. "I'm gonna go outside and practice a bit, come after when you're done" he shot a glance at Kuroko before leaving. You and Kuroko were alone together. "Kuroko...you don't need to call me _-san, especially since I don't"

"Alright, _." he stood up and placed his tray on flat surface on top of the trashcan. "Speaking of, you left last minute the other day, were you able to get to work on time?" he noted, making his way back to the table.

"Oh, you remembered! Yeah, sorry for leaving in such a hurry, I was late for work."

"Where do you work?"

"I work at a daycare center a little away from here, my aunt owns it." Your voice was slightly laced with pride as you said it, after all you enjoyed having spending money, and you enjoyed kids.

"If you work and go to school, do you think you ever have time to study?" You sighed and shook your head, resting your chin on your hand. "No, I don't really.." After some silence has passed by he opened his mouth again.

"Why don't we meet together for lunch and spend it studying then?" his friendly offer was met with a disarming face as you beamed at him. "That would help a lot actually! not to be rude, but I do wonder why you would offer to help someone you don't know well." He looked into your eyes. "I want you, _."

"S-sorry what was that?" He repeated himself. "I want to, _."

The bell rung as you both packed up your things, before leaving you turned to him. "Thank you Kuroko! I'll meet you here tomorrow then!" "Looking forward to it." he smiled at you.

As promised, the next day, You and Kuroko met for lunch, and he proceeded to help you go over notes, create outlines and tested you on questions. Kagami would do the usual, make food disappear in record time like magic, and lumber off to practice basketball. Sitting with your knees nearly touching one another's Kuroko leaned over again and pointed to a figure in a page. "You should ask the teacher if he will test you on that timeline." He then studied your face. "How do you feel?" you shyly peered at him. "Oh, g-great, just trying to concentrate." _"Get your beautiful face out of here.."_ you thought to yourself. "I think you will do well" he said softly. "You worked really hard _."

"I wouldn't be nearly as prepared if it wasn't for you Kuroko" another day or so passed as you both shared glances. Kagami walked up behind you two crossing his arms. "You guys sure you're not dating? All I hear is lovey dovey crap" he muttered. you furiously shook your head. "I was just showing appreciation for his help Kagami-kun!" he smirked. "Whatever you say." he waved you off, the bell ringing once again. Kuroko handed your book and pen back as he gave you a supportive nod. "See you tomorrow _" You left the doors feeling slightly more hopeful then you did in the last week, happy that you were the one to actually have support for once.


	3. Covet

Imayoshi Shoichi

The new term is here, and how did you spend your break? Doing nearly - no, absolutely nothing. You didn't even have Shoichi's presence around you to distract you from your lazy days, and he has been too busy with basketball, student council and apparently something is brewing between his parents and him (informed to you through emails and short texts).

You didn't want to distract him from any of his responsibilities, though you were starting to wonder if his time spent with you was taking him away from his other, now more present duties. "Seriously how can extracurricular activities still haunt someone's break.."

-sigh-

Hair tied back; socks pulled up to the knee and backpack slung over your right shoulder, it was ready to face the congested crowds of buzz and laughter through the front doors of Too Academy.

Every once and awhile your mind drifted back to the time you and Shoichi spent together, there was a tentative yet slight tug in your heart, you missed the guy. Taking a gander at your schedule, you weaved your way through the crowds of nervous new students and reunited old friends - into Intermediate Trigonometry. The impulse to see if he was in your class was nearly embarrassing, sure you were beginning to like him, but it reminded you once again, that Shoichi was apparently, your only "friend."

The first day back to classes was your last priority of things to pay attention to; it usually consisted of numerous, unimportant aspects such as what the class will be teaching, what the instructor expects from you, and mainly reading over the syllabus - as if you were 5 and did not have the brain development to read the damn words yourself. Once the bell has rung you picked up your stuff and hastily left, this was the first semester you had a free period after one class, so you were more than happy to wander around and take a thinking walk. "I should really have more friends then just Shoichi, I mean..I guess I never wanted to before, but if it's a way of distracting myself while he's gone it wouldn't hurt - To be that girl that clings to their only friend? Agh! No way will I stoop down like that..but people are also annoying..and suck."

Shaking your head, you made a sharp left and strolled into the library. The familiar scent of old, and even new books and paper hit your nose like the smell of fresh flowers in the Springtime. This has been your go-to place to get immersed and stuck in the world of someone else's instead of living the seemingly boring reality you have now - but life is what you make of it, so it's subjective, after all, Shoichi-kun made you learn what a pleasantry it is to be in someone's company, to experience the world together.

There you go thinking about him again.

Your skirt breezed and swirled around your legs as you leisurely walked past the shelves, The third installment of your favorite series caught your eye from across one of the stands, it was published just a few days ago but you haven't really felt the mood (or had the money) to get it. It was of the mystery genre, the kind that makes you read it over and over in order to garner all the details of every event, the type of book where nearly every page matters to the bigger picture. Barely able to conceal excitement it was just beyond reach when a rather tall figure with reddish-brown hair stepped in front of you, his back facing you. You stopped short - inches away from barreling into his back. "What the.." His head lifted up from the uttering of your half sentence, he turned three quarters into your direction, his emerald eyes meeting your _ ones.

In his hand, he has your book.

Two options. 1. Fight him. 2. Ask him if you may have it.

But you did neither - in fact, it must be weird, just staring at his face. "You like this series as well?" you inquired, surprise being your first reaction. He gave a slight nod of his head. "Yeah, I find his prose engaging, he captures your attention right from the very beginning" he laughed slightly, "which is good for me because I can barely keep my eye on it for too long unless it starts off strong." You can only nod again, "He captured me the same way too, is quite good at making the most of his stories.." you trailed off, unsure of how else to continue or even what else to say. The guy smiled at you. "My name is Fujikage Gitan, Call me Gitan though." "_, _" He took your hand his fingers grazing the outside of your palm as you both introduced one another.

His eyes swiped across the cover of the book he held. "I can wait to read this if you'd rather have it." "No, don't worry you retrieved first! I insist you have it." You laughed nervously. He tilted his head at you as if pondering something. "I finish books fairly quick so if you want to exchange numbers..or perhaps the next time I see you I will tell you when I return it." This hardly seemed like the type of thing you would usually accept, but it was casual and didn't seem like he had ulterior motives though the one thing you and Shoichi had in common was a hasty judgment.

"Thanks! It was a pleasure to meet you _-san. I'll be sure to keep in touch." You waved back as he checked out and exited the library. "Well that was pretty cool, I was able to pull off a decent but short conversation with somebody.."

The rest of your day went rather smoothly, you even had other conversations. Okay well it was more like new students getting lost and you giving directions but that was more than enough then your usual. Just when you were about to leave for the bus a lean but well defined armed wound around your shoulders and pulled you back against their chest. "Leaving without me? I'm offended" He pouted softly as he circled to your front with a foxy grin. You met his eyes giving him a genuinely warm hug. "Shoichi-kun, it's good to see you." The tall man angled his shoulders back as he crossed his arms. "Is it really? I didn't see you all day, and you were going to leave without visiting the student council room." He lifted an eyebrow. "So apparently I'm being reprimanded for not having classes with him?" Although, you were his friend so it would have made sense to check if he was in the Student Council room..not being able to sift through any plausible excuses you gave an apologetic smile. "It's not my fault that I have no classes with you, though!" "Well..you'll have to make it up to me somehow, right?" His voice was dripping with artificial sweetness as he began walking toward the room, basically knowing you would follow him.

You were not one that was easily tricked, but you can be predictable. Heaving an annoyed exhale you trudged behind him making the sounds of your footsteps very apparent. He lifted his head up without turning back. "Did you get heavier, _-san?"

Though classes recently ended, there was still no one in the meeting room just yet. You and your beautiful companion sat down adjacent to each other. He rested his chin on the bridges of both his hands as he leaned over his elbows to you. "How was your first day back?" You shrugged. "It was fair, no reason to complain nor any reason to appraise the events of today." You met his eyes. "How about yours?" Ignoring the question he perked at your latter statement. "Events, huh? Could that mean that something out of the ordinary happened?" "Are you able to gather such a conclusion from such a small set of details or are you unsatisfied with my answer?" "A little of both," he replied. "So I was just thinking how I've been to this school for awhile, and how my break was rather dull, I think I may want to get involved more, just to experience something new." He looked at you in a confused manner. "That statement had nothing to do with our conversation, are you avoiding my subject now?" You can only give him a charming smile. "You get what you give."

"Well." He mused, "If you mean that then perhaps you should get collaborate your desire with Student Council, it is a new term after all, and some students transfer halfway through the year." You blinked a few times "I saw that today, how is that even possible?" "It happens. But besides such, I could use your assistance in recruiting some new members if you'd like". You were rather fascinated with the idea, it 'd be good to get involved, and it will give you something to do, Especially since you didn't get to read that book of yours. "Okay, I think I'll give it a go then." He smirked and patted the top of your hair. "Good."

The second start of classes passed by, and you were back with Shoichi-kun again, spending the majority of your past free periods handing out flyers and charming people into joining and getting involved with the student council. "My, my, I sure have a helpful secretary" he murmured as he squeezed the side of your waist briefly, passing by you to set his bag down. You rolled your eyes, "Don't get any ideas; this is still a trial experiment you know." He nodded, just then your phone vibrated, the screen lit up in front of Shoichi as his bag was right next to it. "Who is Gitan?" he curiously asked as he picked up your phone. He read the first three words.

"I'm almost done." You picked your phone from his grasp as you read the rest of the message and smiled. "I can't wait" you replied. Shoichi pursed his lips into a tight line. "What is he almost done with and why can't you wait?" You glanced up at Shoichi who was curious, but the aura was more..intense than before - it was pressing. "Oh well, he was this guy I encountered in the library, we both wanted the same book so we started conversing and so he said he would notify me when he would be done with it soon." Shoichi nodded the tone of his voice suddenly became muted and emotionless. "Well when you're done texting your boyfriend, you have duties to fulfill." And with that, he walked out of the room.

Leaving you confused.

The next day - "_-san, the book is back at the library if you want it now." Gitan placed a hand on your shoulder before you turned around. You smiled, feeling giddy to finally be able to retrieve it. "Wow, you weren't lying when you said you finish fast!" "And usually that's not a good thing" a fluid and smooth voice intervened. Both heads turn to look at no one other then Imayoshi. He held his usual grin though with no conviction. He casually walked over from a locker and appeared by your side. Gitan was surprised for a moment, before introducing himself. "Are you a friend of _-san's? I'm afraid I don't know you, my name is-" "Fujikage Gitan,Yes I am aware" Imayoshi stated. "Imayoshi Shoichi." Gitan looked at Imayoshi again with the realization "You're on Too Academy's basketball team." "Indeed, Now, Shoichi's voice got low, "Do you know why you shouldn't rush through a novel?" "Shoichi-kun, we should probably go to" "One second dear _." Gitan shook his head. "Because." "A novel is meant to be cherished; each page leads you closer to getting to know the inner workings of its story, to relish every word is actually to comprehend the meaning of the story." He paused and tapped his finger lightly on his chin "Not only that but the style in which the author writes is very deliberate - there is a reason why he rushes into the main stuff in the beginning so that he can increase his appeal in short-sighted readers such as yourself." Gitan was unsure whether or not he was being insulted, and you too, were uneasy. "Alright..well _-san, I am going in the same direction as the library, I can walk you if you want." You expected Shoichi to answer, but he was silent as if awaiting your response. You smiled at Gitan. "That's quite alright Gitan, I actually have to go the opposite direction." He nodded and waved at you before shooting the last glance at Imayoshi.

His figure slowly faded away further down the hall. Shoichi turned to face you."May we convene in an empty room for a second?" You slowly nodded as he led you to a vacant room down the hallway, it was a free period for you, and lunch time for Shoichi. He closed the door behind him with a click, without turning the lights on - it was dim, the shades were drawn down more than halfway. "Why do I have this sense of impending danger?"

Shoichi appeared firmly behind you chuckling. "So, is this the possibility of payback for not keeping in regular touch with you over our time apart?" he feigned sighing woefully. "You replaced me already." You narrowed your eyes at him as your chests met mere inches apart from each other. "I can have more than one friend you know." "And I would never restrict you, though I assure you that man had no interest in just being your friend." Shoichi dragged out the last word as if it was a manifested toxin. "Besides.." his voice suddenly softened, "You would put me in the same rank as him?" You knitted your eyebrows. "Well then what are we then?" "Certainly not the same term of friends as you applied to him." "You scared him off so I don't think he will be seeing me again." Through the darkness, Shoichi managed to effectively hide his satisfied smile. "I was simply trying to assist him in his erroneous way of thinking." Shaking your head you made your way back to the door, but slender fingers wrapped around your wrist as a whisper that made your knees tremble reached you seductively, his nose pressed lightly against the back of your head, his voice murmuring into your hair. "However _-san, you and I may not have a clear defined title yet but I know you are no fool only to assume what we have is a friendship. You are mine and you are aware of that" he purred softly releasing your wrist where you stumble into the bright lights that flooded the hallway.

"Now I really can't stop thinking of him.."

Kiyoshi Teppei

Teppei laughed, his soft brown hair moving with him as he leveled his head down to you. "You're so cute _-san I can barely handle it." You met his eyes and poked his chest playfully. "What will you do if you can't handle it?" His eyes became more focus as he nuzzled your nose leaning in closer towards you.

And that was the third time you had the same dream. The sun was just peeking out from the horizon, greeting you with it's warm rays as you slid out of bed and rubbed your eyes. Not once did you forget about the date you and Teppei had, and if anything, you have been looking forward to going on some more with him. A light went off on your phone.

"Good Morning _-san! " Teppei has kept more frequent touch with you, and your bond has been occurring naturally, and gradually closer. You gave him a short reply before getting ready for school, this day like the last few have always been off to a good start, but this was something different. You were growing fond of him. Pulling your jacket over your shoulders you left your house to greet the bus, the driver greeted you with a smile and you nodded in turn.

"Hi _-san." A rather subtle voice caught your attention as you made your way to the front doors, Kuroko wasn't usually this early but today was a pleasant difference. "Kuroko-kun, how are you?" "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten a date with Teppei in the first place" You smiled at the thought. "Doing well, I got here to get some breakfast before it gets crowded." He shifted his foot and began to turn to the entrance door. "You're welcome to come." You smiled and accompanied him as you two made your way through the school, the cool air passing by as people walked by, the serene sensation that comes with being there before most always relaxed you. "We also have a game today, so I couldn't get much rest." He mentioned, snapping you out of your thoughts as you both stood on line. You pursed your lips, narrowing your eyes at him "Well that's counter-productive, but good thing you will have me there cheering you on!" His eyes filled with reverence as the corner of his lips jerked halfway up. "Glad you'll be there for us."

He used his thumb to pull apart a muffin he bought, giving the other half to you. You accepted and sat in enjoyable silence. A few times that your glances met, you could have sworn it appeared he was contemplating something. "_-san..I wanted to talk to you later, before the game. Would that be alright?" Your face perked with curiosity, crumbs of muffin dropping on your shirt before you opened your mouth "Sure that's not a problem at all!" He chuckled as he handed you a napkin. "I got to go to class, I'll talk to you later, then."

Not much goes on in your life, you have to admit. It's school. Home. Homework. And Teppei. And Hana-chan if she ever has the time for you, she takes school a lot more seriously than you do, and should. So for the rest of the school day you were consumed with thoughts about what Kuroko may want to talk to you about. His behavior is unpredictable, yet he is kind and approachable. What could he have trouble with that he needs to talk to me?...or maybe he might confess something?

Oh, crap.

Hit a wall. Well. Not physically, but wandering makes you lost, and you wander when you think. Shaking your head you took a look around before a large hand covered your eyes. "Guess who?"

"Only you would do that, Teppei." You turned around and he picked you up in a loving embrace. "Haha, what's this big hug for? You're acting like you haven't seen me in years." He laughed warmly. "We weren't able to hang out this weekend, but I didn't think I'd miss your company that much." His eyes went wide at the possible miscommunication – as he placed you down and scratched the back of his neck. "Wait! Uh, I mean of course I'd miss you but, I didn't realize the amount!" Stifling a laugh, you flicked his forehead. "I get what you mean. I missed you too." Teppei took a scan of the surroundings. "Why are you all the way over here?" You leaned forward looking down each direction of the hallway. "I got a little lost, again. amazing right? I am still capable of doing this even when I thought I got it all down." Teppei stood by your side and extended his arm. "My lady?" You took his arm in hand and took a left.

Looking straight ahead, you didn't even notice how Teppei was looking down at you so often. "_-san I forgot! We have a game tonight. Will you come?" You nodded as you met eyes with the lovely brunette. "Mhm! Kuroko told me this morning when we shared breakfast together." Teppei knit his eyebrows just momentarily before saying "Do you and Kuroko usually get breakfast together? Wish I was included." He pouted softly before looking forward.

After Teppei dropped you off the rest of the day went by in a flash. Your thoughts were entwined about the game, and your honest and ever-growing interest in basketball even (and maybe Teppei, hehe). As the bell rung, you let out a breath of relief while getting out of class. Seirin high's basketball team was still running practice before the game but it was no surprise. Once you passed through the gym doors, Kuroko came to greet you first. "_-san, we have a short break, are you free right now?" You looked over at Teppei who was still making shots before you return your gaze to him. "Yeah, let's go over there." Teppei saw your retreating figure as he finished his last shot, that happened to bounce off the rim and roll over to the bleachers near you and Kuroko.

"I wanted to talk to you about Momoi." You stared at him to continue. "I believe she may have feelings for me" You giggled and leaned in closer to him, "You think? Of course, she does, she thinks you're absolutely cute." "What do I do?" His eyes seem cast over as if cute was more of an insult than a compliment. You nodded your head, "It will depend on how you feel, if you liked her what would you say?"

By this time, Teppei went to retrieve the ball, Kuroko's voice rang out from the side of the bleachers where you were. "I like you, and I enjoy talking to you, I hope we can get to know each other better." Teppei stood there for a brief moment, confliction written on his face as he tried to decide whether to stay or to leave. "It's none of my business.." and with that, he strolled off without so much as a glance behind him.

"I would say that if I DID like her, though." "But you don't" "I don't think so." "Unless she confesses to you, I don't think you should invest too much time into this" You stated softly, you knew Kuroko would never want to hurt anyone's feelings, and you had a pretty good feeling that Momoi may not handle rejection well. He stood there for some time before nodding and thanking you for your advice. "Though I didn't really help at all.." You sweat dropped.

You went out from the bleachers and looked around for Teppei since you usually converse with him for a short while around breaks, but this time, he was nowhere to be seen. Deciding not to interrupt any further, you left, waving byes to the team.

7 p.m

The game was beginning, and cheers and voices echoed through the gymnasium as you found a seat right near the center. Dressed in a red skirt with black tights and a small hoodie, you looked around for Teppei. You met glances with him for a short while, your arm extending in a half awkward wave before he quickly broke eye contact without a single expression. "Maybe tonight is going to be a stressful game.."

The game was close, but it was a successful victory for Seirin high. Filled with optimism and happiness, you were more looking forward to seeing Teppei less tense. You always admired how he put his all in it but for some reason tonight seemed rather different. It was a home game, so it was not at all difficult to meet up with him outside the school after. Kuroko waved to you again, before being dragged off by Kagami, something about not passing to him the last minute. "Good job tonight!" He nodded to you, staring off into the distance before replying "It wasn't just me it was everyone." Now something seemed very wrong. Normal warm and happy Teppei wasn't here.

You gently took his arm, before you could say anything he continued. "Did you talk to Kuroko yet?" "Oh yeah we did just a little before, it worked out." Teppei now faced you with a rather serious expression. "_-san.." He held the side of your arms. "I want you to know that I'll respect whatever decision you make, but I don't think I can manage to see you and him around together."

..You nearly choked on your own saliva.

This was far from what you were expecting, you inwardly smiled to yourself. No way are you going to let Teppei live this down after. "Teppei, I have no idea what you're talking about, whatever you heard" You laughed. "Aha- What ha- ever you assume isn't true!" He sighed. "This is serious _-san, I did overhear you two talking, I didn't want to let it bother me that you two got breakfast together but this…mhmff" Suddenly, his talking mouth was covered by yours. Smiling against your lips he wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you closer. "Teppei-kun..The time you carried me when I had a sprained ankle, the time you walked me to and from class, the night at the festival.. what makes you think I could ever like anyone else but you?" He pressed his forehead against yours. "I guess that was silly of me to ever think that. But I was worried about losing such a wonderful girl, is it greedy to only want your smiles for myself?" "I smile more because of you if that means anything."

You then intertwined your fingers with his as you two began walking you turned your head back "And if you really eavesdropped through the whole conversation, you should know that he was talking about someone else." "I didn't want to seem rude, but boy I sure am relieved!" He grinned at you "I might have respected your choice if that was the case, but that didn't mean I wouldn't still attempt to fight for you _-san!" You squeezed his hand, as you made your peaceful departure home.

"He is, after all, the man of my dreams."

Midorima Shintaro (Givin' some extra love to my boy Midorima!)

Watching Midorima play during his games never gets boring. You admired how gracefully he moved and was even more impressed with how he made his shots, long arches, elegant fingers wrapped vertically around the ball. Before he made his shot he took a glance at you again – this time making it in. Practice was soon over, and you finished your work at the same time. Takao left Midorima's side to come and greet you. "_-chan, come to admire Shin-chan again?" Your cheeks turned a pinkish hue as you turned away. "He asked me to wait for him today!" Takao clutched his stomach as he let out a laugh. "Liar!". "Takao, quit bothering _." Midorima appeared in between you two as Takao gave him a hurt look. "I wasn't bothering her!" "Yes you were Takao-kun." He sighed as he left waving his hand "And here I thought you were on my side _-san.".

"Mido-kun, what do you want to do today?" You asked softly as your eyes met his. Midorima looked at you for a little longer than usual before exhaling slowly. "Why do you look at me like that _?" You knitted your eyebrows together. You and him walked by one another's side after he left the locker room, leading outside to the school, the sun was still high in the sky, and many students stayed after for clubs. "Because you're just so beautiful." It wasn't a lie, but you loved the way he reacted when you say things like that. He arched an eyebrow up. "You've become more random lately, are you getting sick?" To your surprise his slender hand moved and pushed your hair up as he felt your forehead for a temperature. You wrapped your hand around his wrist and scowled at him. "I'm not sick!" He chuckled and placed his hand by his side. "Are you going to just hold on?" You blushed and removed your hand from his wrist as you two walked forward.

"It's been like this for quite some time now" Midorima, to your happiness as begun to interact with you a lot more, and even opened up about certain events during the course of his days. He tells you some of his thoughts, complains about things he's tired of dealing with, such as Takao and how he won't shut up. And your favorite so far is when he fusses over you about how much you slept or how you did on exams. It was his unique way of caring and you knew that. You smiled to yourself as you began to admire the slow and steady movement of the setting sun. Midorima was staring at you the entire time you made faces to yourself as you were thinking. "You're strange." He stated. "I didn't even do anything!" "If you were going to make faces while you're thinking, you might as well just tell me what's on your mind." You looked up and thought about it for a second. "I was just thinking about how much I appreciate our friendship Mido-kun." He didn't say anything for a few moments, while still looking forward his only words were, "Me too."

The next day.

You hurriedly rushed to the front entrance of school all while pulling the back part of your shoe up to your ankle. "Crap crap! I'm going to be so late!" the alarm clock you usually relied on didn't go off today for an unknown reason and that resulted with you missing the bus as well. As you ran through the doors you halted to a stop by a certain dark haired man slouching over. "Takao-kun?" You hesitantly approached him as you bent over trying to get a view of his face. "Takao-kun?" after the second time, he lifted his head and gave you a forced smile. "Hey _-san, what's up?" Placing a hand on your hip you squinted at him. "Shouldn't you be in class?" He shook his head and gave a weak chuckle. "Classes don't always matter as much as you think they do, compared to other aspects of life. Anyway don't worry about me, you're going to be more late then you already are." It was true, but you were already late to your first class so it didn't actually seem to matter to you, especially when you can tell there was something wrong with him. "No, maybe you're right..but anyway do you mind if I just sit next to you then?" He was a bit surprised, but moved over to give you some room. You placed your backpack down as you sat next to him. There seemed to be an awkward silence. "I should say something, but what? Do I distract him or ask him what's wrong?" You gave support instead. "Takao-kun, I hope this doesn't come across as an odd thing to say, but I just want you to know, I'm always here for you if you need anything." Takao suddenly smiled and pinched your cheek. "Oh _-san! You're so cheesy!" his laugh tapered off into a sincere smile. "Thank you though, I appreciate it. My girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend now just broke up with me, so I'm just taking some time to myself." You nodded your head in understanding. "Well then, why don't we just take a walk or something? I have the next period free as well, so that's a good hour or so, if you're up to it that is." "That sounds good to me, it'd be nice to get outside."

It was beginning to get a little chillier then usual around this time of year, and because you were late to school you forgot to bring a jacket. "Of course." Takao noticed this and slid off his jacket handing it to you. "Don't worry about me, I got a lot of body heat." He smiled warmly as you took it. For the most part of the walk he was silent, so you spent time keeping him distracted. You told him stories about how you grew up, where you worked, and a few experiences you had where your days completely screwed you over. He would laugh and smile before saying. "I like that you're so positive _-san, it seems like no matter what bad inconvenience comes your way you always make the best of it. It says a lot about you, you know." You blushed and looked down causing you to inhale the scent of his jacket. It smelled a little like jasmine, mixed with some sort of cologne you couldn't recognized. "Well it's no fun spending life miserable" He nodded. "I agree, it sucks what happened, but I am pretty confident I'll get through it." He paused shortly and looked over at you. "Even more so since I talked to you." Both of you rounded the corner and made it back to the school in time for the next class to begin. Midorima shared the same class as Takao and being as observant as he was asked his whereabouts. "I was just walking with _-san. She's such a sweetheart, took some time out of her free period just to make sure I was okay." Midorima nodded before asking "Why were you not of sound mind?" Takao shook his head and leaned back on his desk "You talk so weirdly Shin-chan! But my girlfriend and I just broke up." Midorima shifted "Well, I'm sure you'll get through it just fine – however you shouldn't have made _-san skip class this morning." He rolled his eyes. "You worry too much about _-san, it's like you like her or something" Takao remarked, smirking. Met with silence, they turned ahead for the class to begin.

During the days ahead, You and Takao have interacted more, and even around Midorima as well. The apparent growing friendship between you and Takao as made Midorima more silent, and curious instead. Though he knows Takao well, he could tell that Takao was perhaps beginning to have feelings for you. Despite that, your eyes would still occasionally land on Midorima, causing him to blush and shift his attention to something else. Midorima spent more time thinking about what could be between you and Takao, whether it was in his head or is actually what he was seeing. He noticed you spend more time with him, walking with him to classes. Though you never forget to talk to Midorima, he couldn't help but begin to feel irritated for reasons unknown. The intentions of his hawk-eyed friend became clear when in the locker room before practice Takao casually pointed out, "I think I am starting to like _-san." Midorima had no response, but instead left the room to attend practice. Takao couldn't figure out what was wrong but he knew deep down it was a possibility that Midorima may like you as well, "even so it is fair game if Shintaro doesn't speak up."

The next day as you were cleaning out your locker, Takao waved at you. He appeared by your side. "_-san, are you busy after school today?" You shook your head. "I usually do something with Midorima after school today but he hasn't confirmed it yet, in fact I haven't really seen much of him." Takao could only nod, but from a distance he caught the sight of green hair. "Hey Shin-chan!" Midorima greeted Takao back as he turned to you. "Are you ready?" You blinked in surprise, usually you ask Midorima if he wanted to go out but this..this was good. Your smile gleamed as you grabbed your backpack. "See you later Takao-kun!" He reluctantly waved as his eyes landed on Midorima, their eye contact more heavy than usual. Midorima didn't want to ruin the friendship he had with Takao, and it was fair to say that he didn't notify Takao either of how he may have felt of _. But then again. "What exactly do I feel for her?" "Mido-kun you've been rather quiet; you know more than usual." He snapped momentarily out of his thoughts. "My apologies. How was your day today?" He was still lost in trance as to how he would deal with the situation which seemed to blow so casually over your head, though the sound of your voice chirping away about your day still soothed him. Perplexed by this feeling he couldn't possibly remember when or why he suddenly realized your influence on him. Perhaps it was the feeling of losing you to another person. Midorima stopped halfway through your walk causing you to turn around.

"_-san."

"Yes Mido-kun." His face turned slightly red. "How do you feel about Takao-kun?" confused you asked him why, but he remained quiet. "Well I think he's funny and nice, and a good friend to have." You stated, "Now answer me, why?" "Takao-kun as you know just got over a break up. Do you think he may be seeking comfort in you?" You shifted. "I never thought of that actually, but it's a possibility, either way I'm sure he would talk to me if he did feel differently." Midorima couldn't repress his impulse this time. "And what would you say if he did?" "Huh? Oh well I guess I'd tell him I like somebody else." He seemed relieved at first, but his face tensed again at the prospect of who else you could possibly like. He was getting quite fed up with thinking these thoughts that never seem to occur to him until now. And until it became about you, and how you felt.

In the morning Midorima sought out Takao, to tell him that –

"_-san likes somebody else." Takao laughed, his usual laugh. "You don't think I know that? It's you Shin-chan." He flexed as he rested his arms behind his head. "But I figured you didn't feel the same since you haven't made much of a move on her, or voiced your opinion." It almost came as a challenge to Shintaro upon hearing that. He pushed up his glasses and stood from his desk as the bell rung. "I intend to tell _ how I feel." Takao nodded, "Good, I was thinking about it and I wouldn't want _-san to be a rebound since she is my friend." He then continued. "Also I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship either, Shin-chan." Midorima scoffed. "Nothing would ruin it." Before Takao can get teary eyed, Shintaro disappeared out the door.

"Mido-kun! Hey!" Midorima walked up to you and looking down he stated clearly. "Can we talk?" "I was planning on it." "His behavior has been rather odd lately.." you thought. Just then a hand extended out. "I'll hold your bag." "Ah, okay. Thank you then." "Okay he's super odd." As he led you to some shade under a tree he set the bags down. "Are you alright, Mido-kun?" He shifted his eyes away from you. "Do you still have the barrette?" "Of course! I just didn't want to wear it all the time since I get a little worried about losing it." "I can always get you another one if you do." He replied softly. Your heartbeat seemed to have skipped just then as you looked down at your shoes. "I um.. thank you I appreciate it. Was there something you want to talk about?" Midorima then met his eyes with yours. "I really don't know much about these type of things." He gestured with a slight upward movement of his palm. "But I wanted to ask you, how you..how you feel about me." You suddenly began to blush even harder as you repressed your urge to stutter. Some moments past without you answering. Midorima then shifted the conversation. "The things that I do for you, I don't usually do for anyone else, nor do I go out of my way for them. Do you understand what I'm trying to get at?" Confidence existed little to none in you, so unless Midorima had a poster board up confessing his feelings to you, it wouldn't be your first assumption. He sighed. "_-san, I am not sure why, I cannot rationalize it, but when you told me you may have feelings for someone I couldn't comprehend my discomfort with it – I was also ill at ease with the increase interactions between you and Takao. I am hoping you can help clarify something, anything for me." His face seemed strained as if he had trouble processing his thoughts. His vulnerability gave you some courage to take his hand. He glanced at you with surprise. "Midorima-kun, I like you too." You smiled at him as you leaned in to hug him. "Tch I never said that.." but he wrapped his arms around you anyway.

Aomine Daiki

"Hey _-san!" Tamaki appeared by your desk as you were gathering your books. "Hey Tamaki-kun! I've been so busy lately that I seemed to have forgotten to ask how you were doing in Math." He gave a disappointed huff. "That's what I was actually wanting to talk to you about." Meanwhile Aomine was waiting outside your classroom, probably wanting to take some of the lunch you bring to school. You stood up and patted his shoulder. "Tamaki-kun if you're asking me to help you study for the exam coming up I'll be more than happy!"

Momoi exited the classroom and caught sight of Aomine. "Dai-chan! Did you wait for me?" She smiled as she turned to him. "I'm actually waiting for _-san. Where is she?" Aomine looked behind her shoulder into the room. Momoi leaned in as well. "Oh she's talking to Tamaki-kun, it's the guy she tutors." Aomine narrowed his eyes. "Tutor? How does she have time to do that, she manages the basketball team." "Haha Dai-chan is jealous!" He crossed his arms. "Stop saying dumb things." He mumbled as he began walking away. "Dai-chan wait for me!" - Tamaki and you exited the classroom as he repeatedly thanked you for offering to tutor him before the exam. You scanned the hallways for Aomine, as he made it a habit to walk you to and from some classes in exchange for the contents of your lunch. "What are you looking for _-san?" Tamaki asked as he ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair. "Ah, it's nothing, where are you heading to?"

After school.

Whistles rang through the gymnasium as the boys ran to and from the ends of the court. Aomine was barely breaking a sweat as he casually glanced over his shoulder at the doors, waiting for you to show up. He was just curious if you would show up, sure you probably will, but. He scoffed. Why was he thinking about shit like that? He directed his gaze to the end of the court and finished off the exercise. You entered quietly in the gym Momoi waving you over to her side. "_-san, I'm so excited! We are all going to the spa soon, I can't wait." "Isn't this like the second time?" Momoi nodded. "Yes it is, it's really important to relax your muscles after vigorous training, plus we have a match again Seirin coming up. Speaking of I want to see Kuroko too! I hope we will see him at the spa" at this point you have already tuned Momoi out, focusing on the team instead. You've just finished gathering water bottles and towels, and even your homework all before being too late to practice, now it was just sitting around. "I could be using this time to study, too.." Aomine caught sight of you as you met glances, he gave a subtle nod as he strolled over to you. "Hey." "What's up Aomine?" "You're not usually late to practice, maybe I am rubbing off on you" He had no facial expression but his eyes shined with mirth. "If you were rubbing off on me then I would of not showed up at all" You cocked your eyebrow at him. He laughed. "You act so tough but I can blow you over like a house of cards." Momoi looked between you and Aomine. "Good to see you guys getting on so well." She clasped her hands together as you and Aomine exchanged slightly heated stares. It wasn't always like this, you two joke around a lot but Aomine is rather moody when he wants to be and today seemed like one of those days. However, you have no idea what the trigger is from.

After practice you gathered your things, Tamaki just texted you asking if you were free tonight. Aomine was leaning against the gym door waiting for you as you packed up. Luckily for you the team loves you enough to put away the equipment so you don't have to lug around so many things. As you approached Daiki he followed you out. "What are you going to be doing now? Want to shoot?" you shook your head as you suppressed another yawn. It seemed like these days you were entirely too tired to do anything. "Tamaki-kun wanted to meet tonight so we can study for the Math exam." Aomine stayed silent for a period of time as he took you to the bus. "Whatever then, see you later." "What's his problem?"

Aomine dribbled the ball as he made a smooth layup, then a three pointer, then a half court. But he seemed to miss a little more than he usually does. During the past few months, practice has really begun to wore him down. Not in a tiring way – just in a why-waste-my-time-again way. Recurring nightmares about his loss still haunt him, it was enough of a reminder to go. Even so, he took another shot, it bounced just slightly off the rim before rolling to the side. He also enjoyed amusing himself with the team's manager. Aomine hung out with you a few times after the time you went shopping, and he was impressed by your improvement in basketball, it really did seem like you could do anything you put your mind to. What bothered Daiki the most was these perturbing thoughts he had of you. Sensitivity wasn't his thing, but it appeared that half the things he says come across as irritating or dismissive with you. Not only did he think he was going crazy, but the fact that he was even thinking how he appears to you is irking him. He picked up the ball and exited the court.

"Oh I see, so you have to carry the X over to the other side, then do the equation before you plug it in." "Yeah exactly, if you remember how to do those steps you've already survived half the exam." You exclaimed as you sipped the tea Tamaki has offered you. You both were sitting in his living room, the t.v was on low volume and his mom was cooking dinner in the kitchen. You were only here for about an hour and the sun was already setting. Your phone buzzed.

"You out yet"

You looked at the message before placing it back in your bag. You and Tamaki worked at it a few more times ."Alright Tamaki-kun I've had about enough of all I can handle." "Will you stay for dinner?" His tone of voice was slightly hopeful. "No thank you, I appreciate the offer but I'm going to get to bed early tonight." You exchanged farewells with Tamaki and his mother before leaving.

Aomine has been distant lately. He was, at the very least, the definition of friend to you, and his aloofness and apparent frown on his face was making you wonder about him. You tugged on his shirt after practice. "You okay? You seem more grumpy than usual." He shrugged. "I'm always okay. Nothing to concern yourself with." You followed him out. "Are you sure? You can always talk to me." He laughed. Facing you he loomed over with a subtle yet strong intimidating aura. "I don't recall asking for your pity – ever." You glared at him. "Why the hell are you being such a jerk? I was just worried about you." "And I didn't ask you to be. I am however I want to be." You sighed. "You really don't know how to treat a friend." "Go tell your crap to somebody that cares" he stated tiredly as he began walking away again.

That was just a few days ago.

"I shouldn't let this get to me, I have an exam today" "Hey _-san, good luck today." Tamaki gave you a reassuring smile as he past you to sit in his desk. You returned the favor and attempted your best to focus as the paper was placed in front of you.

The bell rung just as you were handing it in. Momoi bumped her hip against yours as you two walked out. "How did you think you did?" "Not well to be honest, I studied but I guess I was thinking of this odd argument I had with Aomine." She nodded in understanding. "He has been acting weird lately but I am completely sure you guys will work it out, he can be a total jerk but he just isn't very good at expressing himself." "You kidding? I think – " Aomine arrived at the doorway, looking at you then at Momoi. "You ready." Momoi being the sweet girl she is attempted her best to diffuse tension. "Yeah, you should come with us _-san." Aomine gave no sign of disagreement nor protest, just as you were about to agree Tamaki stood by the doorway, "Hey Momoi-san. _-san." He looked at Aomine, but quickly turned away. " U-um _-san, do you want to get something to eat?" A snort came from Aomine, probably at the apparent shyness of Tamaki. "Yeah I'd love to, let's go. See you later Momoi, Aomine." Aomine watched your retreating figure. "Let's go already." He stuffed his hands into his pockets.

"Who was that? He's sort of scary." Tamaki whispered to you as you continued to walk down the hallway. "He's always like that, don't worry." "_-san, we should celebrate for getting through that exam alive!" "Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?" You slid your trays further down to the cash register. He pursed his lips. "Not exactly sure yet, But I'll tell you after school!"

Momoi and Aomine walked to her locker. "Okay Dai-chan, What's going on? Is it _-san and Tamaki-kun?" He rolled his eyes. "I told you to get off me about that woman." "I know everything! You can't hide it. It bothers you that they are hanging out more." "I don't give two shits." "You do." "I don't." "You do! And you shouldn't ruin your friendship with _-san over it." "Shut up already." She pouted before walking to the cafeteria with him. "Okay, well I was just thinking how cute Tamaki-kun and _-san are when they're together.. I might just tell her to ask him out." "What, the coward can't ask her out himself?" "Says you." "I told you to shut up already." Tamaki's voiced was heard from the distance. "We should celebrate for getting through that exam alive!" and so was _-san's. "Oh yeah? What do you have in mind?" Momoi was listening in with intense interest. "Oh, so I guess he does have the courage to ask her out after all, Dai-chan" she quipped as she looked up at him. Aomine was only looking forward.

As students around you began shuffling out of the building, you avoided pushing people out of the way to get to the exit. Tamaki was standing there and signaling you over as you met him at the front door. Without your notice, Aomine was leaning against the wall – with nothing better to do he was rather curious about how this would end out. "_-san, I was thinking we should go out to eat." "Oh but I forgot to bring money, " "Don't worry, I got it covered." He smiled at you as he pretended to link out his arm for you to hold onto. You gave him an appreciative smile, your hand extended out – only to have it caught midway with a firmer more muscular hand. "_-san can't go out, actually. She has some plans with me." Tamaki knitted his eyebrows together as he looked up at the dark blue head of hair. "Oh? Well _-san didn't mention that to me." Aomine smirked as he stepped in between you and Tamaki. "That's because she's mad at me, we got into a fight, you know couples do that sometimes." "Aomine – what are you.." "Be quiet for a second sweetheart." He winked at you before turning to Tamaki. Having a good 7 inches over him, his shadow practically covered his. Tamaki's face was beginning to grow pale but he still tried to stay strong. "W-well I want to hear what _-san has to say." Aomine moved to the side but turned to you. "She should know first that I wanted to get the chance to apologize to her, and that I would like for us to talk." For a brief moment you thought Aomine could be joking around or trying to sabotage your outing for fun, but he was genuine. You shifted your glance over to Tamaki. "Tamaki-kun I'm sorry, do you mind if I talk to you later?" He could only nod, before slowly walking away.

Aomine then directed his chin up at the roof. You followed his gaze."You want us to go all the way up there? Are we even allowed to? "Yeah it's still open after school. I mean" he scratched his cheek. "If you'd rather take a walk I'm fine with that too." He turned and continued walking down the steps, you following him after. After some silence you couldn't contain your emotions any longer. "So what was up with that?! Why did you say we were in a relationship?!" Aomine rubbed his ear. "First quit yelling. And second, because I wanted to get the chance to talk to you, and saying that seemed like the fastest way to get him to comply. I give the kid credit though; he was quite persistent. Annoying as fuck." "Don't talk bad about him. He's been a whole lot nicer then you lately." You both stopped in front of a basketball court, the one you and Aomine usually play at on weekends. "Yeah I know, And I'm sorry for that." You crossed your arms. "I am stunned, Aomine apologizing?" "I seem to do that a lot with you." He was looking away now, his hands still in his pockets. "Why did you interrupt our conversation? You could have talked to me tomorrow." He sighed. "When I saw him making his move on you I guess I couldn't contain myself." You stepped closer to him. "Am I hearing you right? Why would that bother you?" He gave an angry grunt as he shot you an incredulous look, arching his brows downward. "Are you that stupid? You really don't know why? Maybe it's because I don't like anybody cozying up to you except for me." Your voice lowered, as unknown feelings began to flutter up in your chest. "I- I don't belong to you Aomine." He was now a mere few inches from your face. You had no idea how much time has passed but it was dark, and the court suddenly felt more private. "What do I have to do to change that then?" He murmured, his eyes resting on your lips. Your hand has reached up to touch his face, sub consciously he leaned himself into your palm as your faces neared one another. "Maybe start by not being an ass hole." You finally replied. He chuckled and pulled away as he held onto your hand. "Granted. I still get to annoy you though." "You always do." A smile that hurt your cheeks was there the entire time he walked you home, never fading away.

Akashi Seijuro

The day after your night with Akashi, you returned to school less than enthused. Many nights were spent staying up, mostly writing about your thoughts of the prior events. To you, life was always predictable and usually easy to figure out with enough cognitive processing, but changes, especially involving your interactions with this man has proven your coping theory ineffective. As you reached your desk Akashi has yet to arrive. There was a book just under your seat, in which you bent down to collect. "Aren't you glad I remembered to bring it back to you?" Ryu-kun answered from behind you as he walked up. "Oh, it's my very short and small portfolio of some pictures I took for the club." He looked over your shoulder as you paged through them. "Yep! And they aren't half bad either." You gave him a dirty look. "They are flawlessly artistic, thank you very much. "My apologies, my lady." He joked.

Ryu returned to his desk just as Akashi arrived, ever so regal and dashingly handsome looking. Before he took his usual seat in front of you, he gave you a polite greeting. "Good morning, _-san." His fluid voice was melodious to your ears as you inadvertently perked up at his gesture. "Good morning Akashi-kun, I trust you had a good weekend?" He nodded while sitting down. "Yes. It was lovely to have your acquaintance on Saturday." He said it just loudly enough for Ryu to hear as he gave a rather stunned look your way. You bit your bottom lip and sunk a little lower in your desk to avoid his questioning stare. Akashi smirked as he took out his notebook, the bell ringing. Ryu was his target since day one. He has never forgiven the man for taking you away from his sessions with you, nor has he forgotten about his interference upon your time spent together. Akashi was slow about his plotting, but it takes him a long time to really decide whether or not such discord is worth it. One must expend his resources wisely.

As you collected your books, Ryu urged you over to his desk. You sighed and walked to him. "What goes on in my life is absolutely none of your business, and I don't need to tell you anything" You plainly stated. He shook his head. "I know. I was going to ask you something, actually." Akashi remained seated. Ryu took out a newspaper, "Have you seen this before? It's Rakuzan high's very own newspaper." You rolled your eyes. "Ryu-kun, nearly every high school has a newspaper." "Yeah I know that, but this is an older one, this month's issue is really important, some of our stuff like sports and academics can get published in magazines and even actual newspapers!" You picked up the paper from his hands as you read over an article. "So why are you showing me this?" your eyes swept over the content. "We are a little short-staffed, and I know you're capable of taking pictures, maybe even writing articles. It's good extra credit too, for English class, or you can even count it as community service hours." You handed the newspaper back to him. "Think about it _-san, I'd really appreciate your help." With that he walked out of the classroom leaving you and Akashi alone. You looked over at him. Without taking his eyes off his note book he spoke. "Will you do it?" You usually try to analyze everything he says, by the manner he says it, by the way he looks when he says something, but you couldn't see his expression. Akashi is completely unpredictable and that both fascinates and illicit caution from you. "My grades have been getting noticeably better, so I may have time to do it." Akashi's mouth thinned into a line. "I see." sparked with curiosity you pressed on. "You don't seem pleased." Akashi chuckled quietly as he picked up his stuff. "Oh _-san, why would I be displeased? There's always an article about Rakuzan High's basketball team every year." He smiled at you before exiting the classroom. You leaned against the desk as you pondered his statement. "What does he even mean by that?"

Ryu held the door open for you as you greeted the other students from the photography club, the room seems fuller then usually with a dozen or so faces you don't recognize. Ryu whispered in your ear. "The School Paper Committee is here too. It's a joint meeting." A girl with long dark hair tied back into a bun stepped up onto the podium. "Good afternoon all, It's a pleasure to be meeting the future faces that will be collaborating on this month's paper. As you can see this is an important one for us, and it will include our biggest details, from our high marked academics to our famous sports teams. Let's make this year's paper the best yet!" Applause erupted through the classroom as she nodded before continuing. "As always we will be conducting interviews on research about sustainable energy from some of our science professors, and progress on our strong and undefeated basketball team, these are just some examples of what will recur in the paper." She then gestured to Ryu. "Ryu-kun is head of the photography club, and each of you will be paired up from one of their members to conduct our articles." Ryu then headed up on stage. "Hey everyone!" his cheeks were slightly flushed. "I uh, well I'm not as good of a public speaker as your publishing president but I assure you, everyone will get a chance to contribute in this paper! Partners will be assigned before the club meeting ends."

You were paired with a fellow student named Satoru. He pushed up his larger-than-his-face glasses as he sat next to you. "Hey _-san, I'm your partner for our article." You shook his hand as you opened the folder handed to you. "So we don't get a choice in what we want to write about?" He frowned a bit. "Well we do, but the senior members usually take their picks before the rest is assigned to us." "We are assigned to research about the remodeling of the library." "Who the hell is actually going to care about that?" you shot back. He turned to you with a serious face. "I think many people, our library was the oldest part of the school, and for a school that's pretty bad. I think this would be a good story." "Are you kidding, that library is brand new from what I can see." He gave an amused laugh. "It would appear that way, but the standards of this school differ greatly from others."

As you made your way out still chatting with your partner, Akashi has walked out of the music room by you. He lifted an eyebrow at Satoru then turned to face you. "How was the club meeting?" he asked casually. "H-hi Akashi-kun." Satoru bowed to him politely, in which Akashi disregarded as he waited for your reply. "You shouldn't ignore him Akashi, he said hi to you." was your first sentence. Oddly enough, Akashi registered your request and greeted Satoru. "Now it's my turn." "The club meeting went well; this is my partner Satoru." Satoru bowed again and looked between you two. "We are working on an article about the restructure of the library." Satoru said as he looked at Akashi like he was a God that needed appeasing. Akashi studied Satoru's face. "Is that so?" he mused, before walking past both of you to enter the room.

"Akashi-kun!" The girl with the bun came to his side immediately. "How are you? I was just about to ask if Mitsuki-san and I can interview you for Rakuzan High's basketball team." Akashi made no expression. "You are in charge of the newspaper club, correct?" She nodded, her face appearing grateful that he remembered her. "Geez, what is up with these people" you thought. "I will say this once. I will accept an interview from _-san, and _-san only. Do not bother otherwise." The left-over members in the room quietly whispered to one another as the publishing president looked at him bewildered. She was about to object – but Ryu stepped in front of her. "I'm sure _-san is more than willing to do it." He glanced at your direction for confirmation, in which you nodded. Akashi gave a satisfied smirk. "Very well, carry on." Red and orange eyes rested on yours as Akashi went out and turned right to leave.

"Satoru-kun will you be okay to do the assigned article yourself?" Ryu asked. Satoru nodded and picked up his bag. "Not a problem, Good luck _-san." Ryu then gave you a puzzled stare. "Why did Akashi want you to just interview him?" "My guess is as good as yours." You murmured as you slowly walked away.

You have calculated the best time to meet Akashi, however he seemed to have done it for you. "Meet with me after practice, we will conduct the interview at my house." This was only the day after the meeting, but you assumed he wanted to get it over with. You waited until after school to meet with Akashi, finishing what little work you had left. It would have been a pain to go home then go back to school, so you spectated his practice instead. Akashi did not seem to mind, and looked over at you every once and awhile as he gave orders, and exemplified them for the team. Hayama was muttering to Reo about who you might be to Akashi, was all you could assume from the extra laps he was running. The Rakuzan captain met with you outside of the school as you two walked to his limo in silence. You had many questions for this many that didn't have to do with the article.

You walked through the front doors of his mansion, marveling at the ceilings and the drapery. He led you upstairs, and to his bed room that contained a space larger than two of your rooms combined. Akashi pulled out a seat for you in front of his desk. He pulled up a chair and sat across from you, resting his chin on his hand. "Before we start, would you like tea?" You shook your head. "We should get this done with." amusement flickered in his eyes as he leaned forward. "Hmm? What's the hurry, you are no stranger with me." "Why did you only request for me to interview you?" "Is this part of the article?" he teased as his eyes swiveled to your hand holding the pen. "No, this is for me." "In that case. I chose you because I did not want to bother wasting time on anyone else." "Do you usually conduct interviews at your home?" "No. I was rather tired today and didn't feel like staying any longer." You opened your mouth to ask another question but he interjected you. "I believe I replied enough in exchange for your answers." You closed your mouth. "Why do you disobey me _-san?" He leaned back in his chair. "At first I considered that you didn't realize you were committing such infringement but this is a repeated offense." You were quick to reply. "I don't have the slightest clue as to what you are talking about, but I do apologize for your dissatisfaction towards my apparent behavior." "Are you really apologetic? I don't think so." He sighed softly and closed his eyes. "I do not think I did anything wrong, I simply am exercising my liberty to make choices." Akashi twirled a pencil around his fingers. "You listen and obey your friend's wishes more so than you do with mine, how could I look past that?" "I don't understand." Akashi stared at you more intensely now. "At every chance, you pick to devote your time to him, overlooking obligations you may have to yourself or I. I am patient, but I am no fool." Many thoughts were filling your head now. First. Is Akashi crazy? Sure it is true, you spend a lot of time with him as he tutored you, and you even go to his games sometimes, and there was that Saturday night you attended his recital. Thinking of it, you never really witness Akashi giving the same amount of time or attention he gives to you to someone else. You weren't sure what made you so special to him, but you did register the possibility that you may be gauging your significance to him lower then presumed.

"I suppose you are right in that respect, I should consider informing you, since we usually have engagements together after school." Akashi nodded, seemingly content. He reached for your fingers that rested on the desk casually looking at them, picking up each once as to inspect its structure. Your cheeks were crimson, yet you felt powerless to do anything. The touch of his hand was cool, firm, yet soft at the same time. It was such a simple gesture yet your body was getting heated because of it. It felt like he was exploring a piece of movable art. You broke the silence. "Akashi-kun, shall we do the interview?" His hand enclosed around your palm causing you to direct your gaze to him. His eyes seem to be piercing your soul. "Don't make the mistake of putting another man before me again." You could only nod to register his statement.

Kise Ryouta

You didn't want to admit it, but not having Kise's loud voice and chipper mood around was certainly getting dull. Resting your legs on the coffee table you lazily flipped through the channels. Saturday nights used to be the days you spent with Kise, either walking around in the park, getting some ice cream or just plain staying up at night to have random conversations. Most of the time it was you getting him to do homework and study. You shook your head, "Maybe that's why he stopped hanging out with me." But even for the past week, you haven't seen him around in school, nothing compared to the mortal dread that his fan girls felt, though.

"Where is Kise-kun today?"

"I hope he's not sick!"

"Maybe I should stop by and give him a care package."

You were beginning to wonder if you had developed an unhealthy fascination with these girls, after all, they are nearly involved in every aspect of school when it came to your ongoing friendship with Kise. The attention always bothered you, but you too were a secret fangirl wondering the same things as they were. Drool dribbled out of your mouth as you fell asleep on the couch.

Monday

You fluttered your eyes open, thinking of two different ways to murder those annoying birds chirping by your window. The weekend though unproductive went by rather fast. "If Kise isn't here today, then I'll check up on him." You glanced at your phone. Still no new messages.

As soon as you arrived at your first class, to your surprise Kise was there. He was fighting hard to keep from falling asleep on his desk but was suddenly up when a few female students came by to check up on him. You caught his glance and gave a simple nod, in which he waved. "_-icchi..I am so tired I can barely stay awake right now." You smirked at him. "Shouldn't be a problem, you have four alarm clocks right near your desk." He didn't turn around but continued to face you occupying a seat in front of you. "You think he would mind if I sit here today?" You shrugged your shoulders before taking out your phone,waving it. "What's been up by the way?" "The screen broke the other day, somebody set a camera stand on it without noticing isn't that ridiculous?!" he pouted before showing you his cracked phone screen. "Anyway I'm sorry _-icchi, I wanted to tell you sooner but I've been so busy with the last few jobs I've been doing." "You shouldn't be busy enough to miss school, though." With that, he flicked your nose and laughed. "You're such a nerd."

Though Kise said he would get another phone today, he still has yet to text you. Deciding not to wait around for him you took a leisurely stroll home, enjoying the Autumn sights. Monday was usually the day where teachers give you illogical amounts of homework compared to the rest – maybe because they equally hate these days too. "Their subtle acts of tyranny make Mondays better for them," you thought as you unlocked your front door. It was another uneventful night, you even tried to take your time with your homework but being the genius you are, accomplished it as easy as a baby does burping after a meal.

[ What to do when you're bored]

The search engine loaded briefly before listing a lot of ideas to entertain yourself from Ehow, Live Strong and other websites suggesting you either exercise or listen to music. You angled your laptop on the couch before laying down on your stomach. A few scrolls and some clicks later you stumbled upon a website – it was half-way down the 2nd page of your search so you know it's uncommon, but not dangerous. The layout of the website was cute, with trimmed pink edges on the bottom and the cursor being flower shaped. The list was generally the same, your eyes scanned up and down as you envisioned yourself in these scenarios. "Learn to juggle!" You imagined that being a disaster. "Read a book!" That wasn't a bad idea, but you didn't have a book here you haven't read yet. "Watch a drama!" a few thoughts crossed your mind just then. First, why was this list yelling at you? And second, what exactly is a "drama"? Further research indicated that a drama was indeed, a dramatic or string of dramatic situations that involve the in-depth development of the relations centering around a protagonist or a group consisted of many protagonists and their lives as they go through the events that are either comparable or beyond imagination.

You remembered just then, how your sister enjoyed dramas, how your mom enjoyed dramas, she enjoys knowing about anyone's life really. It was then that you decided to try it out. Little did you know just exactly what you were getting into. (If you guys have watched dramas before, you could be like me or many people I know where you let it consume your life and everything around you fade to humdrum gray matter and you live precariously through the characters, it seriously takes over your life,man.). "Alright well here goes one episode." You squinted at the screen. An orange soda was sitting on your desk as you retreated into the comfort of your bedroom, a bowl of popcorn as well. It was something that was strongly suggested from what you read.

4 hours later

"No..no! How could this happen?! You stupid girl why would you choose the guy over your sister?!" Rocking back and forth in your bed you tightly clutched the pillow you were holding. Rage and irritability engulfed your emotions as you picked out the last few popcorns of the bowl. It was only when you found it empty that you saw the clock, and your phone light up next to it. "Gotta snaps out of it, geez it's 9 pm already." You reluctantly paused the show on your laptop as you opened your phone.

3 new messages.

"_-icchi I got a new phone! It's the latest version too "

"You there? Are you not answering because you're mad? "

"_-icchi! Hellooooooooooo"

Not even registering the fact that you should answer you only pressed the play button on your laptop and continued to stare fervently. "I. Have. To. Find. Out. What. Happens!"

The next day, you groaned as you looked up at the ceiling. Having 4 hours of sleep sucks, still three more days of school after this too.." Kise waved a hand in front of you. "Why didn't you answer last night? Is everything okay?" he pressed as he leaned over to you at lunch. You only nodded your head slowly as you closed your eyes. Kise tilted his head. "Lack of sleep can affect your beauty you know." You lifted an eye up and proceeded to give him the finger before resting your head on the table. Kise poked your head a few times. "If you're not too tired do you want to do something after school today?" "Can't..zzz too tired."

The next day was the same. Except you had just a few more hours of sleep, you limited your binge to 3 episodes a night now, it didn't help much since you spent the other half reading up on the characters, some fanfics, and researching other dramas you could watch after. Kise was now bothering you more than ever, rather surprised and not all too pleased about your lack of time with him. "Kise, that girl in school we saw today looked just like the one in this drama I'm watching." "Kise, do you think I'll ever be with him? I mean I know he's an actor and all but he's just like the perfect guy." "Kise-" You were cut off with him giving an exasperated sigh "_-icchi! All you do is talk about your drama, you didn't even answer my question." You looked up at him with amusement, he usually doesn't throw tantrums in school. "Oh, I'm sorry Kise-kun What did you say?" He turned to you and frowned. "I was asking if you wanted to hang out after school today." You returned his frown with a smile before pinching his cheek. "Sure that sounds good to me, now turn that frown upside down!" You grinned as he rolled his eyes walking ahead of you.

Shortly after school ended you and Kise decided to walk to your house since it was always closer to the school. Kise was talking about how excited he was to finally get a little break, and thinking of trying a new restaurant down the street, meanwhile you nodded and listened but your thoughts occasionally drifted to the cliffhanger left at the last scene you watched and investing an idea on how best to get Kise on board with you to watch this from the beginning. Once you unlocked your door, your mother left a note saying she would be out for some time until later tonight and Kise strolled passed you into your room as he slumped over on your bed. You followed him and sat on the edge poking his side. "Hey, Kise-kun..I have an idea about what we can do tonight." He lifted his head to meet yours expectantly. "I want to show you what I've been watching!" Without waiting for an answer you pulled up the link and played the first episode of "Blossoming love" "See this guy over here? He is one of the main characters and is my favorite! He -" The laptop closed shut with a click

Kise leaned his frame over you his lips twisted into a pout. "_-icchi..I don't like when you talk about other guys, it's just a show you know." You stared at him for a moment. "Well yeah, and you're just a model but you're technically famous it can't be that hard to meet him." He frowned. "What do you see in him anyway? You have been spending all your time watching this drama that you don't even listen to me anymore." Realization hit you like a bullet. "Kissseee~~! You're jealous!" He was closer to you now sitting back as he pulled his knees up caging you between his chest and legs. "I am jealous! You and I always hang out and now I feel like I'm competing with a show! A show, _icchi!" "He is so cute.." you thought as you continue to stare at him. "I only want you to pay attention to me, and idolize me, I don't care about how childish it sounds. Being around you when you're thinking about someone else isn't fun.." he trailed off still waiting for your reply. You threw your arms around him and hugged him tightly, losing his balance he fell back with you on top of him, straddling him. Kise was blushing now as he had his hands resting on your hips. "_icchi.." "I would never replace my best friend with a show, I'm sorry that I haven't been listening to you." "_icchi.." Kise was blushing harder now which made you realize the position you were in. You blinked and jolted back. "Sorry!" Kise sat up and crossed his arms. "Well if you really mean it then I forgive you." He was inching in towards you. His breath trailing down your neck. "But my new goal is to get you to think about me as much as the guy on your screen." It was your turn to blush. Throwing a pillow at him you covered your face. "Kise-kun you pervert!"

Reo Mibuchi

It felt like forever since your break up with Tsubasa. The thought of him rarely crossed your mind, but you began reminiscing while you cleaned out your room. A photo that was tucked as book-mark tumbled out on your lap. It was the time Tsubasa took you to the carnival for your birthday. You had a pink hoodie on, he had an arm wrapped around your shoulder his other arm reaching out to snap a picture of both of you. No emotions came at first, but from the tears brimming in your eyes you could tell there was something stuffed deep in the crevice of your heart.

"_-san, where do you want me to put these boxes?" Reo's voice rang from down the hall as he appeared by your door way. You swiped the tears away before turning to answer him. "You can put them in the storage closet in front of you." His eyes rested on your lap before nodding. The biggest help was your friendship with Reo. He has always been there, and you two got along very well for reasons you can't even explain yourself. With him, there are emotions you are experiencing that you never had before. What it was like to look out for another's health. How it felt to be encouraged to do things. In a way, you felt the friendship benefited you more than Reo, but you didn't mind that. Reo returned to your room and kneeled behind you. His body heat was apparent to how close he was. "What's that you're looking at _-san?" You closed the book turning to him. "Nothing, now. Thanks for helping me clean by the way." He beamed at you. "I love cleaning; it was more of a pleasure than a chore." He extended a hand to you as you both stood up. It's getting late though; I'll see you tomorrow in school _-san. Don't dirty up your room again while I'm gone." He gave you a teasing smile. "Not over-night but come back in a day or two!' you shouted down the hall.

Your first class was with Tsubasa. Though throughout the break up you avoided one another, you would occasionally catch him staring at you. This was one of those days. You tried your best to ignore it but couldn't shake off the feeling whenever he looked your way. He made his intent clear, mostly because he sat further up ahead of you two rows over, making it a point to look. As soon as the bell rung you shot up and out of class before anyone else. During second period you past Reo as you made your way to your History class, he waved and gave you a warm smile. The rest of the day seemed to be like a blur after that. You sighed as you leaned against the wall outside the gym. Fridays were the only days you could really attend Rakuzan's basketball practice. The intensity Is the same, but Akashi seems a lot busier on this day, he ends it earlier. You couldn't seem to stay in there for too long, thinking about the past usually made you feel restless, as if you were in a different sort of reality. "_-san." A familiar voice snapped you out of your thoughts. Leaning against the wall next to you was Tsubasa. You rubbed your eyes to make sure you weren't imagining things. Tsubasa laughed. "Yes, I'm actually here, you still have the habit of spacing out. Didn't even notice me." You straightened up and turned to him. "How long have you been there?" He tilted his chin, "1-2 minutes. Enough to know you were lost in thought." He shifted his weight to his other leg. "I was wondering if we could talk, would that be alright with you?" "I-I don't know what we would talk about." He bit his inner lip, looking down. "This may be selfish of me, but I didn't feel we had much closure on the situation, since it happened." Perhaps this was a sign. Well, if it wasn't a sign it was definitely an opportunity. "Alright, let me get my things from the gym." Tsubasa waited in the doorway as you entered the gym. Reo recognized him, and gave you an expression you couldn't read as you got your backpack. You made a quick waving motion in which his eyes shifted to you meeting up with Tsubasa. "I really hope he's not going to scold me for this.." you thought as Tsubasa walked with you out of the school.

"How've you been?" He was the first one to speak up as you bound toward the exit of the doors. "I've been well, made a few friends, some from the basketball team, and others from classes." Tsubasa nodded, urging you to continue. "My parents planned another romantic getaway so I had a peaceful past weekend. How have you been?" "I am doing alright, I go to the gym after school, and volunteer on weekends." You nodded. As you both made your way further from the school, the only source of light was the street lamps around you. "_-san, I wanted to apologize. I truly feel awful for hurting you back then, and I know that you may not forgive me. I just wanted to at least tell you that." You continued to look down. "You really did hurt me Tsubasa, but that was in the past – I can't say I'm ready to forgive you, but I'm glad you apologized." "We broke up." You didn't know how to react, so instead you waited. "After you left, I felt so bad that I told her about you as well. So I haven't been with her since you were gone." "What is he thinking of gaining by telling me this?" Though you were skeptical a part of you was rather – undeniably happy that there was some light in him. Making no expression you turned your head to face him. "I'm sorry that happened." He gave a half smile and shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, it was all on me. I'm just grateful you allowed this opportunity for me to talk to you. I..I missed you a lot _-san." At this point, the last bus stop of the day was nearing by. "Do you think we can be friends? At least.." You opened then closed your mouth. "I'll think about it." He gave a weak nod, and waved as you entered the bus.

The following morning, Reo was in the same hallway as you, but avoided eye contact, knowing him you decided to talk to him instead. "Hey Reo." He gave a smile. "Good morning _-san. How was your day yesterday?" Maybe he was curious about what happened, you leaned closer to him. "I talked with Tsubasa." "I saw that." "He apologized, and basically he wanted to make amends, I think. He said he would like to be friends with me." Reo gave a slow nod. "I'm going to give it time though, I don't really think I'm ready for him to be back in my life yet." Reo placed a hand on your shoulder. "_-san, you should think about what place you want the people in your life to have." You patted his hand. "I will. Thank you." As students around you began shuffling to their class, Reo squeezed your shoulder before walking off. Tsubasa has greeted you with a good morning when you entered, and hung around as you left. He walked you to your next class, upon his insistence. Reo past by again as he usually does, his eyes narrowing at Tsubasa before looking ahead of him.

"Hey what's up with you Reo-nee? You've been frowning all practice!" Hayama's loud voice boomed in Reo's ear. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm right here. There's no need to shout." "He is right however; you've been scowling the entire time." Akashi interjected. "You too, Sei-chan? I assure you I am fine." Reo cast his glance on the net as he made a three-point shot. Though he never enjoyed voicing his own inner concerns, he was worried about the choices you may be making. Reo has always cared for his teammates the same way he did with you, at least he thought he did. If his teammates didn't heed him, then he would scold them and let it go. But if you didn't heed him, he couldn't help but feel personally disappointed. Reo saw you as something fragile, that needed protection, and nourishment. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn't yet fully believe you can make choices on your own.

"Tsubasa you really don't have to keep walking me to my classes, I'm pretty certain that makes you late for your own. Plus, I haven't made my decision yet, and that's not going to change no matter how many times you're around." Tsubasa smiled. "I know _-san, and if you don't want me to then I will respect it. But man, you sure matured." He patted your back. "Talk to me later then, when you're ready." He suddenly leaned forward to hug you. "Public displays of affection isn't acceptable in school." Tsubasa looked up to see Reo's towering figure. His eyes were matching his frown. "Ah sorry then! See you later _-san." You looked up at Reo as you tugged his jacket. "Are you okay Reo? I felt like I haven't talked to you in a long time." He nodded. "I didn't want to interrupt your relations with Tsubasa." You blinked a few times. "There is no relations between him and I." "Is that so? Then why has he been walking to your class, hugging you and talking to you so frequently?" He clicked his tongue. "If you were going to let people who hurt you back into your life so easily, I wonder what the ones who has never hurt you mean to you." Before you could reply, Reo has already made his way into the gymnasium, and something in your gut was telling you not to follow.

The next week didn't get any better, Reo as always was quiet and avoided you, And Tsubasa managed to keep his space but still made you feel pressured. You kept in mind the words Reo said, and you felt torn. Knowing if you picked Tsubasa Reo would have a low chance of supporting it. But picking Reo would mean that you lose what you had with Tsubasa. "He was right though, He has never hurt me, and has been nothing but supportive with me." The later the day was, the more you came close to knowing your decision. You met with Tsubasa outside the school. He was friendly and smiled, and asked about your day, but you came with the intent of telling him how you felt. "Tsubasa, I really appreciate your apology to me awhile back. And I have felt so much better since them." Tsubasa nodded as you sat down in front of a bench. "But I don't think there is a possibility for anything to happen between us." His eyes reflected surprise, then hurt. "Not even a friendship?" he asked, his voice dejected. You shook your head again. "Not even a friendship, I don't think I can ever see you the same way as I did after you hurt me. Though I forgive you, I don't want anything to do with you at the same time. Does that make sense?" Tsubasa only buried his head between his arms. "No _-san it really doesn't." Your chest tightened. "I'm sorry Tsubasa. I need to go." You stood up, but went into the school instead, you don't want to cry in public. As you entered the school you heard a voice down the hallway. "_-san?" "Thank goodness its after school and barely anyone is here, this is completely embarrassing.." Tsubasa knocked gently on the bathroom door, you were about to answer but someone else did instead.

"What are you doing?" Reo left the boys locker room on his way out and was staring at Tsubasa knocking on the bathroom. "It's none of your business okay?" Tsubasa remarked angrily as his faced twisted into frustration. "You are _-san's companion correct?" Reo asked, as if Tsubasa didn't say anything at all. You opened the door upon hearing your name. "Reo-kun?" His eyes softened at the sight of you. Tsubasa blocked your view. "_-san, I don't mean to be dramatic, and I don't mean to hurt you more, but I never stopped thinking of the times we had. I can't accept letting you go.." Reo's eyes steeled over as he walked up to Tsubasa. You closed the bathroom door in front of you standing in front of both men. "If that is _-san's choice then you have no other way but to accept it." "Who are you to think you have a say?" Tsubasa retorted glaring at Reo. Reo only gave a slight turn of his head. "It doesn't matter who I am, but if you want to know you should ask _-san." Two sets of eyes laid on you.

Oh no. This really wasn't good. Not only do you have to voice how you feel again, but now it's in front of the last two people you want to be vulnerable with. "Reo-kun..is someone I care about, and someone who's opinion matters more than yours, Tsubasa." Reo gave a satisfied smile as Tsubasa shook his head. "I guess I can't really say anything, please talk to me if you ever change your mind, _-san."

Reo helped gathered your things as he held your jacket out for you. You gave him an appreciative and small smile as you looped your arms through the holes. "I know you were quite upset, but you shouldn't leave your things outside, luckily no one took them." "You always find time to scold me don't you Reo-kun?" He placed a hand on your head – and began stroking it. "_-san. I should apologize for avoiding you." "I know it was because you didn't want to influence my decision." He stopped walking for a second and bent down to your eye-level. "That's not entirely it. There was a bigger reason why." "I was thinking for a long time after you told me you were talking to him again. I thought I was worried for you, but I was actually worried about myself. I couldn't help but feel forgotten about, when you were with him. I suppose I doubted how much I am valued in your eyes since I knew how attached you were to him." "Reo-kun, what I have with you means more to me than anything."

"What is it that you have exactly with me, _-san?" Your first reaction was to divert your face away from his. His hand gently tucked itself under your chin and made you face him. "Because I can tell what I have with you, is not a friendship to me." He murmured as he ran a thumb gently down your chin, pulling your bottom lip lightly. "Was this one of my other delusions or is this really occurring?" You could tell by the pounding vibrations of your heart that this was indeed real. His breathing became more shallow as you both stayed like this. Reo ran his hand along your jaw before rest behind your head, he than stepped closer and pulled you in a tight embrace burying his face in the crook of your hair and neck. "Not everything needs an answer yet." He spoke into your skin, making it tingle. You wrapped your arms around him, wishing you could stay like this forever.

HE'S SO BEAUTIFUL.

. /5a0a7085e169c94dd5b239a78eaba25c/tumblr_nogtylN6m11sfpgxao1_

Kuroko Tetsuya

Days at lunch seem a little lonely with Kuroko's absence. Given you weren't exactly alone, you had a certain tiger like redhead to your left. Crumbles fell from his mouth toppling off his chin as he ate his 7th burger of the day. Kagami's dark eyed gazed shifted downward to you. "What is it?" he said through bites. You smiled awkwardly at him as you shook your head and continued eating. "It's nothing...well more like I just don't know what to talk about with you." Kagami returned his eyes to his lunch and continued eating. Kuroko has been out sick for awhile, there was an apparent flu going around and he accumulated three days worth of homework already. You would always visit him at the end of each school day to see how he is doing.

*Flashback*

"Hey Kuroko, how are you feeling?" You entered his room after a few knocks and he gave you a dimly lit smile. "Doing better today, is this all the homework?" He sat up in bed and you walked over and handed it to him. His blue eyes scanned the pages as he shuffled through them. "Thank you _. How is Kagami?" He gestured for you to sit on the edge of his bed moving slightly over. "We don't have much to talk about quite honestly, hard to find anything in common." Kuroko leaned back as if he was pondering something. "_ you're a very kind and friendly person, I'm sure anything you choose to talk about he'll reply to, He's more simple then you think." Kuroko placed a palm on your shoulder with a small reassuring smile. The sun was dipped low in the sky, creating a soft yet subtle orange glow through his curtains. "Anyway.." you attempted to change the subject to divert away your shyness in his sudden touch. Kuroko seemed to somehow caught on, or maybe it was in your head but he changed the subject for you. "I shouldn't be touching you, I might get you sick." Shaking your head, you replied "No..don't worry, I've just sort of..well felt lonely without you in school lately. Haha" nervously laughing you looked at Kuroko. His face seemed blank for awhile, before his eyes narrowed almost endearingly. "I'll come back as soon as I can, thank you for your concern _." You both bid farewells for the day, your smile lingering pleasantly after you left the house.

That was the first day you visited when he was sick.

Despite him not being there, you and Kagami would still meet up for lunch. It was a somewhat comfortable silence you shared and he didn't seem to mind it at all, sometimes leaving early to play basketball or go outside. But today he stayed for the full period. You gave him a small wave as his eyes noticed you. Kagami placed his lunch tray down and sat next to you. A quiet moment passed by before you heard him speak up. "Whats up _" he asked casually. He had a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he gave you a sideways look. "Hey Kagami-kun, how are you?" he snorted slightly before shaking his head. "you're not supposed to answer my question with a question." giving him a puzzled look you faced his direction "but technically what's up can be a greeting and a question" he knitted his eye brows appearing confused before shrugging. "I guess so, but is anything new? How's Kuroko?" "He's doing a little better from what he told me yesterday, and no nothing new with me." he nodded before he continued eating. As he was devouring his food again you lifted a napkin up to him. "Just be yourself" you thought. "You have uh.. stuff all over your face." you did a single side swept motion across your mouth. He seemed to blush a bit before taking the napkin and wiping his vacuum he calls a mouth. you subconsciously placed another napkin on the side of his face to wipe something he missed. He drew back for a moment, his cheeks flaming hot. "W-what are you doing?!" he said somewhat loudly. Pairs of eyes landed on you and him before he quieted down. "Sorry I was trying to help." His eyes met yours before looking off to the side. "No, I uh, appreciate it" the rest of the time was spent in some small talk before lunch ended "At least we talked about something"

*Flashback*

Kuroko missed his second day of school. You placed his stack of homework next to him. Today he seemed to be at his desk finishing yesterday's. "Do you need some help?" you lean close to his elbow pointing to a problem. Kuroko has pulled a seat for you as both of you caught up with each other. It was nice being able to still hang out with him after school, nicer then not seeing him at all. "Yes I was trying to figure that one out, hard to do without learning the lesson." Kuroko turned his body to slightly face you as he moved the paper between you two. You leaned forward to him and proceeded talking about the lesson. His stare was on you as he watched you explained. You slowly started getting nervous "S-so that's all there is to it." you looked up at him only to find your face a little close. He nodded before attempting to do it. "I talked to Kagami today." Kuroko nodded for you to continue while he wrote down his homework. "We didn't really talk about much at all, but when I bring up basketball he seemed to be able to talk more, he also had food stuck on his mouth which was funny and it wasn't as awkward -" you were about to continue rambling before Kuroko gestured to the problem. "Is that right?" you looked over it a few times before confirming. "So you and Kagami were able to talk today?" giving a happy nod you began collecting your things. "Yeah, it was nice, I hope we become better friends." Kuroko nodded. "I hope so too."

A basketball was placed on the table in front of you. "Hey. Let's play today." Kagami looked down at you with a rather determined look. You tilted your head silently contemplating. "Buut.. I haven't eaten yet." "Don't worry we will come back to eat." you still seemed to be weighing your options before you heard a deeply masculine sigh above you. "Also if you play with me I'll buy you lunch." "You don't have to" he leaned against the table "Yeah, I know but I'm trying to get you to come." You finally nodded and followed him outside. "First do you know how to shoot?" he asked curiously. Shaking your head you took the basketball he handed to you before going in the middle of the court. "That's going to be a little hard for you, try standing here." he gestured with his foot at the line closer to the basket. You followed and attempted to aim it into the basket before missing terribly. Kagami bursted out laughing as he clutched his stomach, clearly you weren't getting it. After a few more failures he finally got enough of seeing your sad excuse for a throw and picked up the ball. "Like this." he lifted his arms up and made it in the basket, all net. He handed you the ball again. "Try again." You did your best to imitate and it bounced off the rim before missing. Kagami then retrieved the ball and gave a slightly frustrated look. "No, angle your arms like this." he got behind you, practically caging you within his arms. "Woah woah" you thought, a blush instantly creeping deep set into your cheeks, he guided your right arm tucking it slightly low and under and moved your left hand with his. He then glided both of your movements upward, the ball hit the rim slightly before rolling into the basket. "Oh I get it..now thank you" you said with fragmented sentence. It seemed that he realized the position you both were in before pulling away rather clumsily. "Right let's get lunch" he answered briskly.

*Flashback*

Kuroko opened the door himself this time and greeted you with that warm friendly smile he always seems to have. You gave him his third day's homework. "I should be coming back tomorrow" You clasped your hands together enthusiastically. "Great! I can show you what Kagami has been teaching me." Kuroko gave you a curious look before placing his unfinished homework besides the completed ones. "You and Kagami hung out today?" "Yes he's been really teaching me a lot! He just decided to teach me a little bit about basketball today, I found out that we bond a lot better if we are doing something instead of talking. Kuroko took in your words. "I didn't know you were interested in learning how to play." " Well not at first, but I figured it would be a good way to get to know him, and I think that was his intention too." Kuroko sat at his desk his face seemingly unreadable. "I see, well I'm glad, say _ I need to get this homework done and sleep early" "Oh..Okay" it was weird, usually you would stick around and talk a little more but maybe it's unusual to talk everyday. "I'll see you tomorrow then Kuroko!"

As promised Kuroko showed up the next day to school. You have been thinking about the past interactions you two have had, wondering if he was mad or why he could of cut your conversation short so suddenly yesterday but he was here now and that was all the basically mattered. Kuroko sat by your side during lunch before Kagami came up. "Hey good to see you back" Kagami smiled at him and Kuroko returned it. "Hey _, do you want to try playing again today?" Before you could answer, Kuroko surprisingly spoke for you. "Actually Kagami-kun I wanted to show _ a few things today, if thats alright with her too." he looked at you for slight reassurance and you smiled at him, delighted with spending time with him. Kagami appeared rather surprised. "Okay, well see you both later then." "_" Kuroko called. "Yeah?" he turned to faced you with a serious expression. "I know this might sound odd but I want to be the one to teach and share things with you, I felt like we haven't really made much memories since I've been sick." you blinked a few times. Kuroko usually doesn't say much nor that much in a full sentence. He then looked away. "It's sort of odd, I know Kagami and I are different people, but I want you to see me differently..I suppose." he turned back to you. "Am I making sense?" Perhaps you wanted to be different to Kuroko too, because all you could do was swing your arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug which he gladly returned. "I think so" you laughed and while you couldn't see his face he was giving a wide and content smile.


	4. Enthrallment

**Imayoshi Shoichi**

The last few days you have been ill. Shoichi has texted you a few times to check up on you, however, you have slept through most of it. Piles of tissues litter your wastebasket as you keel over the side of your bed ready for your third nap.

 _"_-san has been gone for awhile now._ " Shoichi sighs as he leans back in his chair tapping his pencil on the desk. _"It sure is quite dull without her."_ He stared at the empty seat in front of him imagining the outline of you there, your hair, your shoulders, your waist. The perk of sitting behind you was that he got to admire your silhouette, but all there is was air - and it has been that way for what seemed like forever. Even as class ended, Imayoshi sluggishly collected his books and breathed out another sigh as a ran his finger lightly across the front of your desk, passing it and leaving out the door.  
Student Council room reminded him of you as well. He couldn't shake off the feeling of what it was like to be close to you when he was instructing you on what to do and when he would always flirt with you during the alone time you had together. "_-san, you've diseased me with thoughts of you."  
"C-captain, are you okay?" Sakurai asked rather nervously as he shifted his glance at Imayoshi. "Hmm? I am doing just fine." Imayoshi mused as he looked at Sakurai. "However you should be more concerned with yourself." He pointed to Wakamatsu who came barreling towards Sakura during the scrimmage. "W-wait! Wakamatsu-!" Imayoshi chuckled to himself as he returned his gaze forward frowning slightly for a moment. Though he was physically and mentally fine, he didn't realize how invested he got thinking of you again. _"She deserves_ _some payback for this,"_ he thought.  
Even as practice ended, Shoichi strolled downtown to his favorite cafe, the one he took you to once, and once again sat at the same table, remembering how much you blushed, how he teased you. It was difficult not to notice how much you affect him until you were actually gone. It was maddening, he was beginning to realize.

You blew out the last of those aggressive mucus invaders before leaning against your headboard. _"I feel like shit.."_ Your phone buzzed beside you as you rubbed your head squinting at the screen. It was a message from Imayoshi.

 ** _Any improvement today?_**

Of course, there was no improvement today, but you replied anyway.  
 _ **Yeah, I think it's getting better.**_  
Your phone buzzed not a moment too soon. Reading the words before you filled you up with a mixture of anticipation and dread.  
 _ **So then it's safe to visit you. Good. Go to the front door.**_  
You hesitated for a moment and peered out your window pulling the curtain to the side. _"Is he actually here?"_ When you peeked out, Imayoshi noticed the slight movement and angled his neck to the side, grinning, he lifted his slender hand and wiggled his fingers at you. You quickly closed the curtains and sent a curt reply.

 _ **I don't think it's a good idea I might still get you sick.  
*Beep*  
So you were lying? Tsk tsk. I'm hurt. You owe me now.**_ _  
_ __You sighed and collected your things together placing them in quick neat piles before heading to the door. As you opened the door Imayoshi smiled warmly at you stepping in, you took a few steps back and closed the door behind him. He peered down at you, the back of his hand meeting your forehead. "My my, you're very hot, figuratively and physically, of course." You lightly blushed and muttered an incoherent thank you. It was this closeness that then reminded you of last week. "Shoichi-kun, can I ask you something?" He nodded before lightly taking your hand, leading you to the couch. You both got comfortable he turned slightly to the side and leaned his head on his hand looking pleasantly at you. "Speak."  
You shifted a bit, a little uncomfortable before mustering the words up. "Do you really think I'm..I..um, Do you think I am yours?" He laughed for a second. "Why do you state it in such a manner? It sounds like you don't like the idea of it." "Well, it's something to clarify about don't you think?!" He patted your head. "Calm down, you're sick. Don't get too worked up over menial matters." You shook your head again. "Did you come here to bother me then?" The corners of his mouth tugged slightly downward. "You think I came all the way here to do something like that? I came here for something else." You stared at him before poking him in his chest. "Then it's to get sick." He smirked before leaning into you. "You're right. And the best way to get me sick is mouth to mouth contact." he traced your bottom lip with the tip of his finger. "Q-quit joking around! What do you want?" You hissed angrily. "You're rather aggressive today, I suppose it's because you're not feeling well. But, I came for payback." "Payback?" "Yeah, payback" he whispered as his eyes slit open.  
"For what exactly? I didn't do anything." You even tried to rethink of any time that you ever bothered him. "So selfish _-san, first I could have lost you to another man and now I am losing you to an illness." You rolled your eyes clearly done with the conversation. "Make yourself at home, I am going to bed." You stood up making your way past him. He gently grabbed your wrist. "I've been so bored without you." You shot him a look. "I'm not an instrument for your entertainment." He stood up. "Let me rephrase that. I've been lonely. I missed you." Your eyes met with one another, surprised by his rare instance of apparent sincerity. His head was slightly tilted, and his face almost seems childish. This was indeed an uncommon look. Blushing you shifted to the side to hide your face. "Baka, what are you even saying.."  
He ran his fingers through your hair. "I thought it was only fair to plague your mind with thoughts of me as well." You met eyes with him again as his hand reached behind your neck, his thumb stroking it. "What are you doing" you plainly stated, though you didn't move away. His hand rested on your waist before giving it a squeeze, you gasp unsure of what he was going to do. He then shifted you to the opposite direction and lightly patted your bottom. "Go on to bed, I'll make you some tea." The rest of the night seemed to roll just like that. Imayoshi would sit down by your side on the bed, giving you tea, talking to you and keeping you company. He did, for the most part, acted like the perfect gentleman and though you were a bit self-conscious with how messy you appeared he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he was still himself. "It's getting late now." he looked at his watch. "Yeah thank you for taking care of me." He nodded and swiftly leaned in to brush his lips against the side of your temple. "It's not so bad belonging to me, after all, right?" he murmured closely in your ear. Feeling ticklish you pulled back slightly to meet his gaze. "you're going to make that clear to me right now." His eyes widened in amusement. "As in show you?" "N-no I want to know what you mean!" You held your hands up in defense. Met with no reply, he could only smile before patting your head once again. "Good night _-san."  
 **Kiyoshi Teppei**

Teppei was playing against Kogomo North High today. The game was getting intense real fast, being in the third quarter. Teppei made his shot, Kagami and Kuroko gave him a supportive thumbs up. Teppei smiled at them though he still scans the crowd for your face, even if you have notified him you couldn't come today. This was the first game you ever missed. He inwardly huffed.  
 _"Sorry Teppei-kun, I wish I can make it but I have something important to tend to today."  
Teppei nodded, "Is everything alright? You know you can tell me. I understand, though."  
You shook your head. "Don't worry about it! I'm just visiting a friend who has recently transferred to a hospital nearby, I haven't seen him in awhile so I want to check up on how he's doing."  
_Though he would never admit that he could even be slightly jealous, he still exchanged a reassuring smile and pulled you into an embrace. Life isn't all about him, so he can't complain. _"Though I'm missing her pretty badly right now aha."_ He laughed to himself as he shook his head and attempted to get back into the game. You were the only one that could ever break his focus _."She would want me to try my best for the team too, I need to snap out of it."_ Teppei confirmed.  
The match was won 86-82. He and the rest of Seirin High went out to would check his phone often to see if you texted him. "Are you alright? You've been looking at your phone a lot." Kuroko observed as he walked by his side. Teppei nodded his head as he lightly smacked Kuroko's back. "I'm fine! I'm pretty happy that we had such a good match, though!" Kuroko nodded, as he continued. "Is it _-san? Is she alright?" Teppei gave him a slightly surprised look, Kuroko had a depth of perception that he tends to forget about sometimes. "Yeah, she's visiting an old friend at the hospital, I don't want to bother her." Kuroko looked at Teppei for awhile. "If you miss her, you should just message her, I'm sure it wouldn't be a nuisance."  
Your phone buzzed as you just exchanged farewells to your friend. You pulled your jacket up and unlocked your screen.  
 _ **"Hey, how are you doing?"**_

 _ **"Just left, everything went well. How was the game?"**_  
It was then that your phone began ringing - though he doesn't usually call it was a pleasantry.  
"We won 86-82."  
"That's great to hear, I knew you guys could do it!" His chuckle rang from the other side.  
"Wish you were there, but I'm glad your visit went well. I have something to ask you by the way."  
"Go ahead."  
The phone sound like it was moving. "Well I usually spend weekends with my Grandparents, and they have been talking about meeting you for some time now, no pressure of course!"  
 _Meeting his grandparents?_ You thought to yourself. Usually meeting family would signify some sort of progression in a relationship but it is true that you haven't really spent any time with Kiyoshi for the past week. "Yeah, That sounds nice. I'll look forward to it. Tomorrow was a Saturday.  
"Good to hear _-san. I can't wait to see you."  
 **Saturday  
** Kiyoshi wrapped his arms around your waist and picked you up. "Hey, you." He gave you a gleaming smile that also reflected in his eyes. "Teppei-kun." You wrapped your arms around his neck. "Are you ready to go?" He insisted on coming to your home to walk to the bus stop together. You nodded, his arms still holding you. "I'll be ready once my feet touch the ground." You giggled as you played with a few strands of his hair. "I can always carry you too." He was grinning but gently placed you on your feet as you made your way to the stop.  
You couldn't deny that you were slightly nervous. It was a small lump that rested in the pit of your stomach, but Teppei seemed very confident that they would like you, even so, you were stuck on what to say or how to act. "Just be yourself." he reassured, "They will adore you no matter what" He gently stroked your back as you leaned against him. The day happened to be bright and sunny, besides the fact that it was beginning to get windy and chilly. Even as you made your way to his house together, leaves still fall to greet your feet at every step.  
As you made your way closer, a kindly older woman met you two at the entrance. "Teppei, you brought a guest." She smiled warmly at you in which you return to with a bow. "This is _-san." She opened her eyes with what seemed like eagerness. "Oh! so this is her. Teppei never stops talking about you, I've been looking forward to meeting his girlfriend for awhile now." she clasps your hands together leading you both inside. You laughed nervously as you looked at Teppei. "So you talk about me huh?" You whispered to him. He gave you a warm smile. "I think about you too" he whispered back. She sat you down beside him as she brewed some tea. Teppei was talking to his grandmother about yesterday's match as you took a look at his home, scanning it with your eyes. Just then, the back door slid open and by appearance, it seemed like it was his grandfather. Teppei caught his figure and stood up to greet him. You appeared by his side. "This is your lovely companion? She is more beautiful than I pictured" He gave a smile as you bowed to him. "Thank you." Teppei narrowed his eyes at his grandfather. "Are you saying a pretty girl wouldn't date me?" he jabbed playfully. The older man shook his head as they exchanged laughs. _"He seems really close with them, I wonder where his parents are."_ Though you decided that was a question for another day.  
For the rest of the afternoon, you spent time talking with his grandparents, against Teppei's wishes they told you memories about him as a child, recalling favorite stories and embarrassing moments. "Teppei was so upset that he couldn't find us that he just sat down and started huffing!" His grandmother patted his head as she grinned. He sweat dropped. "Grandma I think _-san has heard many stories of me already." She nodded. "Right, right. Why don't you show her around then?" You waved to them as Teppei showed you throughout the house. The garden, the front, and your favorite, his room. "It's not big but it's quite comfy." He closed the door behind him as you took a look at his pictures. He casually slid his arms around your waist, resting his chin on your shoulder. "So how did you like my meeting my grandparents?" You covered his hands with yours. "They are very nice, I'm glad I came." He nuzzled your neck. "Good, but I have to admit its nice to be alone with you." your cheeks reddened as you turned to look up at him.

"I missed you."  
 **Midorima Shintaro**  
 _"Have you eaten yet?"  
"You said you had an exam today. Hope you studied."  
"Get more sleep. You kept yawning today."_  
These were just a few things that Midorima has said to you during the past few times you've been with one another. He usually doesn't hassle you, but it seems like he enjoys fussing over you a lot. _"Midorima is odd in that way, he cares like a naggy mother."_ You smiled to yourself as you watch him listen to his horoscopes. A few minutes later he pulled his earbuds out. "Oha Asa says that you need to take care of your health today, it will be more sensitive than usual" he stated. His long fingers reached over and patted down your hair, fixing it. You slightly blushed at his gesture as you looked up at him. "Thank you Mido-kun, I'll keep that in mind." He nodded as he stroked your hair lightly. "Good." He dropped you off your house before seeing you off. "Text me if you need anything", was his last words.  
Even as you closed the door your chest still hummed with contentment over the way he has acted lately. It was the look in his eyes, or how he fights his mouth from tugging up into a smile. The way he stares at you for certain periods of time thinking you wouldn't notice, was cute, too.

Midorima decided last minute to stop by the antique shop today. The lady kindly greeted him as he entered through the door. "Hey, where's your girlfriend today?" she asked half-teasingly. Midorima hesitated before answering. "She's at home." The lady nodded. "Let me know if you need any assistance." He registered her statement before walking to the back. As he was looking through different books he noticed the one that you looked at when he was with you. He gave a slight smile remembering how curious you were, and his heart thumped just a little harder when he remembered how close you got to him. Midorima has read your horoscope to you each day, and it seemed that you both have gotten along better than ever.  
"Shin-chan~!" Takao nudged his side. "What's that far off look for? Are you thinking of _-san?" he asked grinning widely. "You're making assumptions." "I wasn't wrong was I?" "Hmph." Takao laughed before continuing. "I didn't see _-san around this morning, you think she's here today? It's unlike her to miss school." Midorima didn't answer but he was also wondering where you were. He decided to shoot you a text before entering class.  
 **5 hours later**  
 _"End of school and still no reply from her."_ Midorima continued to look at the screen before reluctantly sending another text.  
Now he was really getting worried. The fact that you weren't here again annoyed him. Takao looked around, "Still no sign eh?" Midorima spent some time sitting on the bench after practice, balancing a choice of going to visit you or not. He didn't want to seem like he was being clingy, but he also was worried about you as well. "Takao. Is it odd for me to be upset that she hasn't replied?" He smiled. "You're worrying for nothing, it's normal for couples not to talk all the time." Midorima sighed. "We aren't a couple." "Yeah, okay." he grinned as he closed his locker.  
The following morning he saw you at the front entrance of the school. Feeling rather odd about his behavior the last few days, he decided to let you approach him if needed. You looked up at Midorima as you waved at him. "Mido-kun, Hey!" He was scowling at you. "What's wrong?" He turned his face slightly away. "You didn't answer your phone for the last two days." "I was meaning to talk to you about that, my phone actually fell in the sink while I was washing dishes it completely died." He frowned. "Then why weren't you in school?" "I had to take a few days off to look at houses with my mom. We are moving away soon, but I'll still be attending this school." Seeming content with your answer he nodded. "Would you like to get something to eat after school?" he asked tentatively, though he wouldn't admit that he was missing you, he wanted to spend time as much as possible. You smiled cutely at him. "Sounds like a date." he blushed. "You can consider it however you want."  
As the sun was just above the horizon, you and Midorima were walking and weaving through people. He was noticing the face you were making as if deep in thought about something. "What are you thinking about?" he inquired. You looked up and looped your arm around his, which of course surprised him, not pulling away he looked down at you for an answer. "I was thinking about how cute your face was when you asked where I was." you teased. He sighed deeply as he pulled his arms closer to himself, bringing you along with him, your cheek brushed against his shoulder as he led you to a nearby cafe. "I was worried you were mad, or maybe didn't want to see me again. Incomprehensible, I know. " _"It is cute how he worries over nothing."_ you thought to yourself, but what surprised you more was how not having you around caused him to think these thoughts in the first place.  
"_-san, May I ask you something?" He pulled out the chair for you before sitting across from it. You nodded. "The other day when you were gone, Takao called us a couple. What makes a couple?" You bit your bottom lip trying to come up with an answer yourself. "To be honest Mido-kun I don't really know, I never had a boyfriend before, but from what I see, a couple is two people that like each other, and enjoy spending time together." He closed his eyes before intertwining his fingers with yours on the table "I suppose we are one, then." He murmured shyly. You smiled and squeezed his hand, just then the waitress has arrived.  
She gave a welcoming hello before taking out a pad and pen.  
"What can I get for the lovely couple?"  
 **Aomine Daiki**  
Aomine leaned his head against the headboard of his bed, thumbing through pages of a magazine. "Huh, This girl has a pretty big chest, kind of like _-san's," he mumbled to himself as he tilted his head for a different angle. As he turned to the next page - "Her hair is a little shorter, but this one has the face of _-san." He squinted and knitted his eyebrows together. _"Weird."_ He dropped the magazine over the side of the bed as he laid on the pillow. He had just recently walked you home, holding onto you before going back to his house. Now it's like he's reminded of you everywhere.  
"I miss _-san". Momoi pouted as she held onto her books looking up at Aomine. "Don't you Dai-chan?" He raised an eyebrow. "Where is she?" "She went away on vacation with her mom and brother, I guess he is back visiting from America so she wanted to go somewhere special together. She's missing days of school which probably bother her too." Aomine stayed silent as he shifted his eyes down at Momoi. "How long..is she going to be gone for?" She looked up at him and got close to his face whispering, "Ohh Dai-chan, are you going to miss _-san?" she placed a hand in front of her whispering lips. He glared at her before stiffening up. "Y-yeah right, I just don't feel like dealing with Sakurai and the others when they hanker me about what happened to her." "What a terrible excuse." she retorted before receiving a flick on the head.  
Aomine was slightly curious as to why you told Momoi and not him that you were going on vacation - not like he had to know _"But she could of at least_ _said something"_ he thought to himself. As he looked up at the clouds, he placed his hands behind his neck. Today wasn't one of the days he felt like going, but he knew you would have given him hell for it if you were there. Aomine was getting tired of the same old thing. It seemed like all that existed in this world was just basketball practice, school and the occasional outing somewhere. But it was different when he met you, he experienced new things, put in unusual situations, even acted weirdly himself. It got plain real quick when you were gone, as if something seemed, out of place - or wrong. Not wanting to think of it anymore he closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.  
 _"Aomine-kun, now that practice is over.."_ He looked over at you, for some reason your hair was messy and it was just you two in the locker room. He smirked and snaked his arms around your waist pulling your body roughly up against his _"Yeah, so it do you want to do?"_ he talked into your ear as you wrapped your arms around his neck. _"You know what I want."_ He chuckled before pushing you up against the locker, your legs entwining around his waist. _"You have to ask nicely for it"_ He began kissing your neck as his hands gripped your underside, holding you up. _"Aomine please give me your -"_  
"Dai-chan!" a sudden hand swatted at his cheek, waking him up. He opened his eyes groggily. "What the hell do you want?" "I knew you would be here, I didn't have time to look for you today." He grunted and sat up. "Let's go then." Not entirely enthused that he was woken up from such a pleasant (and repetitive) dream, he and Momoi made their way out of the school. "Satsuki. Don't you ever get bored of doing the same thing all the time?" she tilted her chin looking off into space. "Not really, I think you're bored because you don't have a _-san to bother." "Yeah, I guess so." His thoughts drifted again.  
 _"Aomine-kun you should really learn to pass the ball." He laughed. "More like they should pass the ball to me." You narrowed your eyes at him. "You're being too selfish." "If I was being too selfish then I'd just have you be my personal manager instead of these idiots." Imayoshi shot him a look. "Do you know what the term idiot means?" Aomine glared at him back. Just before anything else was said the whistle was blown. " Aomine hung back taking a few more shots as the team went into the locker room. You gathered your things, just as you were passing him he extended his arm out hooking you in. "What is it?" he looked down at you. "You don't think I'm an idiot, right?" It was rather odd of him to even care about what you thought but these were one of the moments. You smirked. "You're unmotivated and lazy. But you're not completely incapable." "I don't know if that's a compliment or not." "Then maybe you are an idiot!" You teased. He made an attempt to grab you before you ran off._  
"You're spacing out a lot today." Momoi pulled him out of his thoughts as they reached her house. "Yeah, didn't get a lot of sleep. See you later." He waved as he turned to walk back. The sky was cloudy like it was about to rain, but even then as the drops splashed against the back of his neck and hair, he still was wondering how you were doing.

The past few days seemed to have passed in a blur. You just came back from an "Emergency family bonding" vacation as your mother would put, tired than ever. There was no service when you went so you couldn't even talk to your friends, either. You turned it back on, the outside of your window dark. There was a missed called from Momoi followed by a few texts. A message from Aomine, and another from a classmate.  
As soon as you made your way through the doors, Momoi ran up to you swinging her arms around you. "_-san! I missed you sosososo much! How was your getaway?" you held onto her arms trying to control her from toppling you over. "It was good, I did a lot of sightseeing. " She nodded as she let go. "Where is Aomine-kun?" She pouted. "He's not here today, I don't know if he is sick or just didn't feel like going to school." You nodded registering her words. "Well let's get to class then." The whole day has gone by as usual, except for the fact that you had no idea what was going on, and you had a crap ton of work to catch up with. Sighing, you made your way to the gym. Imayoshi, Wakamatsu, and Sakurai came up to greet you. "Hey, manager!" Wakamatsu smiled. "You were MIA for awhile," Imayoshi commented. "Yeah, I was on vacation, not voluntarily, though." He laughed. "Well, it is good to have you back." "Aomine was looking so gloomy without you _-san" Sakurai pitched in. You lifted an eyebrow. "Did he go to practice at all?" "Yeah, right" Momoi muttered.  
You exchanged good-byes with Momoi before walking out into the brisk early evening. Though a pile of work was in your bag, you still couldn't help but wonder how Aomine was doing. Besides scolding him for his laziness, you also worried about him. Reaching the front of his door, you gave a light knock. _"No answer."_ You knocked a little louder this time. Met with nothing. Curiously turning the knob, it opened with a _click. "That's odd, he should really lock his doors."_ You called out to him in the house, but no one seemed to be home, you peeked into of the doors, seemingly his room to see him lying on his bed. You quietly stepped in, unsure of what to do, or whether or not he would be mad at you for trespassing into his house. "Aomine-kun?" You crept closer and lightly shook his shoulder. Some of his hair was in front of his face, and his chest was rising and falling. Just as you were about to move his hair he snatched your wrist and pulled you into bed with him. "I could call the cops for having you slither in" he whispered into your ear, your back against his chest as he rolled over to his side. You held onto his arms trying to break free. "You had the front door unlocked!" He chuckled softly. "And that meant you were free to come in?" "I was worried about you." He yawned, releasing you as you sat up. "I didn't get much sleep last night so I just caught up on it today." You leaned over him. "Are you alright?" Ignoring your question, "How was your vacation." he asked quietly. "Oh, it was okay, I knew Momoi was going to tell you. Wish you went to practice without me nagging you." He leaned back against the pillow. "Not a lot of fun without you there." "I brought you your homework today." He rolled his eyes. "Please, I could care less. But hey, I'm still tired"he tugged on your arm pulling you down with him. Your eyes widened as your head was resting on his shoulder. "You can start making up the time you owed me since you were gone for so long." You weren't sure if he was planning something or not, but it was still true that you had jet-lag after coming back, and you were absolutely exhausted. "Relax, If I wanted to do something I'd do it by now." you sighed, and watched as he drifted off, your eyes beginning to get heavy as well. "That's a good girl." he grinned, his eyes still closed as he tightened his grip around you.

 **Akashi Seijuro**  
Ryu patted you on the back as he slid the published issue in front of you. "Job well done, _-san." you looked down and saw the front cover, and also key interviews featuring professors, other clubs, and the sports teams. You then remembered that you had just interviewed Akashi for this month's article. "It was no problem, I'm glad to be of help." He nodded before the bell rung and you exited the class. Meanwhile, Akashi was reading the same article himself, smiling slightly as he read over some of the questions during your exchanges.  
 _"What is your projected outlook for this year's match line up?"_

 _"As always, we will emerge victoriously, the work and effort of Rakuzan's team will not fail."_

 _"Are this year's new members promising toward the future of the team?"  
"Of course, with a will for perfection and special practices geared towards their play style, anyone can become competent."  
"Do you look forward to anything else this year?"  
It was then that he gave an eerie yet pleasant smile.  
"Numerous things, There are many developments within this school year I'd like to invest in."  
_Knowing the clever girl that you were, you wouldn't have dodged the hint of that answer. As it was after school now, you walked pass the music classroom, to the one you usually meet Akashi at for tutoring. You opened the door and was met by the red-haired male that was sitting patiently at the table with a few books opened at different pages. The lights were off, the only light was from the windows, orange light glimmering over the desk as you sat across from him. "Hello _." You nodded your head at him. "Good afternoon Akashi-kun." He turned to a book nearby and placed it in front of you. "Let's get started then. These problems are from today's lesson, why don't you do half the front page and tell me if you need help." You took out a pencil and paper and got started. Once and awhile your gaze would shift to him, and he seemed to notice every time as he returned your stare causing you to avert your eyes back to the book. Everything seemed normal so far, it was as if the occurrence between you and Akashi during the interview didn't happen at all. Fifteen minutes after you were about to finish you noticed Akashi getting up from his seat and appearing behind you, your hair was swept to one side exposing your neck. He leaned down his breath breezing down your shoulder as he looked over your work. He was so close you could smell his scent. More focused on his proximity then the paper he turned his face to look at you again, mere inches separating you two. He gave a nod. "Good..but you missed something" his other hand appeared over your other shoulder as he picked the pencil from your grasp. "Over here, you forgot to add the - " as much as you attempted to focus on his words, you were more concerned with feeling surrounded by Seijuro. He seemed to have enclosed you between his chest, and his breath was tickling your neck, the sense overload was making you flustered. He noticed this and faced you again. "Are you listening, _?" he chuckled lightly before placing the pencil back in your hand, maneuvering it with his own, he guided your hand down to the next problem. "I'll explain it again." It was unknown to you whether he was doing this on purpose or not but you still found yourself concealing your blush, trying your best to focus. After what seemed like forever the tutoring session finally finished and you left after thanking him kindly. His face continued to linger in your direction until you were gone from sight.  
The next day has rolled around and more people were coming up to you complimenting you on the interview, "You did a great job!" "Yeah, the pictures came out nice too!" Ryu noticed this and arrived by your side proudly nodding his head. "Yup, she has an eye for picture taking I'll admit that." _"I do really like photography club, but I haven't gotten the appropriate camera for it yet..."_ you thought solemnly.Cameras were very expensive and even as you brought it up with your parents earlier in the year they still refused to get you one. _"I'm sorry but it's simply something we can't afford right now _." Your father said. "Why don't you save up some money? Or maybe you can wait until Christmas." Your mother reassured._ Ryu poked you. "Earth to _." "Oh, yes thank you, everyone, I appreciate your compliments." They nodded before walking the other way.  
Meanwhile, you continued to meet with Akashi after school ended, but your thoughts were still encompassing you, making you seem distant and far away. Not even Akashi's scolding or stern remarks could pull you out of your glum. You considered getting a job to afford to buy a camera but when would you have the time? You also considered asking Ryu if he had any other ones to which he sadly said no. It seemed like each day that you received compliment it backfired into sending you back to the realm of worries, saddened that you were not able to pursue a passion. After the third time, you went to meet with Akashi it seemed like he has finally had enough of you not listening or paying attention to him. "_-san. We are going to talk today before we start any work." He calmly said as he gestured you to sit down. You nervously fidgeted in your chair as you both looked at one another. After what seemed like an eternity he parted his lips. "What's on your mind." was all he asked. "What do you mean?" you replied slowly looking down. He sighed again. "You haven't been listening to me at all for quite some time now, it's not hard to miss. If something is bothering you please tell me." His eyes seemed more gentle than usual if that was even possible. He was waiting patiently for your answer. "I want to continue to be a part of photography club whenever I can, I like taking pictures..but I don't have the ability to...attain the proper equipment." You said softly fiddling with your fingers. It was embarrassing to say you couldn't afford it, as it was embarrassing enough that you already had to be tutored to do well in school, you were smart and intelligent enough you didn't need a tutor, but the AP class you and Akashi shared has proven rather challenging. Akashi nodded as he closed his eyes contemplating something. "I can get it for you if you'd like." You blinked a few times and leaned forward. "I can't allow that, it's not your responsibility to do that for me." "Whatever gets you to focus on your studies again, it will not be for no reason." You shook your head "I still can't you allow you to just buy something for me." He smirked and crossed his arms. "Then..since you been mentally away from me for these past few days I feel like I wasted a lot of time on you, to make up for that I missed a lot of other important tasks I could have gotten done by now. Perhaps if you assist me then in exchange you can work for your camera." You thought of this for a moment. Akashi was basically asking you to become his assistant for however long it took you to pay off the camera you needed, it would be work, but it also meant being around him a lot more often, more often than you usually do. "Well, _?" his voice brought you out of your thoughts. "Yes, alright. If I can work for it then I will do it. He gave a satisfied smile. "I look forward to working with you, _."  
You had no idea what you have gotten yourself into. Akashi and you spent the rest of the day going over problems. "Before you leave I have a few things to make clear with you." You stayed in your seat. His face became serious as he weighed you with his stare. "I expect you to always answer your phone when I reach you." You nodded. "You should always stay by my side when I need you" Though unsure of what he could possibly mean, you obliged. "Lastly, you will put me first before other's needs or requests, unless it is truly a dire emergency." _"Am I becoming his slave or his assistant?"_ you thought to yourself. "_" he called your name impatiently. "Oh, um yes." He nodded and got up to hold the door open for you. He gently took your arm before you left and leaned in close to you.  
"Your job starts tomorrow, be prepared."  
 _"Crap.."_  
 _"_ **Kise Ryouta-**  
"That's perfect Ryouta! Now angle your body a little this way!" Flashes went off throughout the shoot as Kise moved in various positions. The photographer was excitedly gesturing for him to turn his face this way, to flex his arms, basically anything and everything under the sun. After the photo shoot, Kise wiped some sweat off his forehead with a towel. "We will get that fan fixed by tomorrow!" The man exclaimed as a left. "Yeah, I'd really appreciate it, I was sweating so much I thought I'd melt." Kise shot him a dazzling smiling before exiting the door. He had just received a message from his modeling agent. Apparently, his next shoot was supposed to be couple themed, in preparation for Christmas a few months beforehand. He clicked his phone off as he made his way to your house.  
You flexed your arms, cleaning up your living room area a bit before the doorbell rung. You opened the front door to a smiling Kise as he hooked his right arm around your shoulder pulling you in for an embrace. "Hi Kise." you hugged him back before inviting him in. You handed him a soda as you both sat down, him leaning against your shoulder. "I'm so lazy to go to school tomorrow. I don't think I can do a shoot after practice and go to school at the same time.I might as well quit school." he mumbled as he closed his eyes. "Baka, if you didn't go to school you can't go to practice." You raised your hand to stroke his hair lightly. He smiled. "Speaking of _-icchi, I was wondering if you could help me with some homework. My grades are slipping since I've been so busy and tired all the time now." He pouted and turned to you. "Yeah, I noticed that you've been missing school a lot, too." You both took out your textbooks as you spent the rest of the night by each other's side.

Kise made it to his next shoot, this time, a female model awaited him at the doorway. They gave him a warm smile, as he came in. "Okay all, today's theme is for a couple's section which is due to come out during Christmas time, try to remember the spirit of the holidays, what it's like to exchange gifts with your loved one, get into the mood!" As Kise got ready for the shoot, he looked tenderly into the model's face - it was then that your face crossed his mind. _"I'm sure _-san likes the holidays,"_ he thought as he smiled to himself.  
 _Flash._  
He and the model changed positions again, this time, his arms were wrapped around her waist. He inwardly laughed to himself. _I remember when I did this to _-san, she jumped and her face was like a tomato."_

 _Flash._

The last scene was depicted of him holding her hand in one and they held their other hands to show off couple bands. _"I wonder if _-san would wear rings, I've never seen her wear any jewelry."_ he mused to himself.

"That was great you two! I really felt the love there, Kise, you were looking at her so dearly like you have been in love for ages! Very nice work, both of you." Kise waved to him before closing the door, the model stopped by the exit to chat with him. "That was a great shoot!" she smiled at him. He mirrored her expression. "Yeah it was, Although I don't think I'll get used to doing holiday shoots months beforehand" she laughed as she looked up at him earnestly. "Are you free after this? I felt like with the way were working together we had such a great connection. We should get some coffee." Kise gave a slight laugh as he scratched the back of his neck. "I'm a high school student actually." She replied right away. "So am I, I just came into town for awhile for this shoot." "I actually have somewhere to go after this so I can't. I'm working always haha." she frowned slightly. "That's a shame. Maybe next time then." she gently slid a piece of paper into his hand before leaving. "My number," she said before turning away.  
You cocked an eyebrow at him. "You're late." He closed the door behind him as he met you at the coffee table. "Gomen, Gomen, I got caught up in work." he placed the bag by his side as he leaned in across from you. "How are you?" he inquired. "I'm fine, I just finished my own homework before you came so I'm completely free for you." He gave a wide smile. "That's good to hear. So I have your attention all to myself." "How was the shoot? You told me it was for the holidays right?" he nodded. "It went well, the model was nice, and so was the photographer, say _-san, do you like rings?" he questioned. You gave him a puzzled look. "I don't really wear jewelry but I also never received it as a present, I'd probably wear it if someone gave it to me. Why?" "Just wondering." You peered at him for a little while longer. "Let's get started..then." Throughout the night you kept trying to get his attention. Kise would do a problem halfway only to stop and ask you a random question "Do you like the holidays?" You narrowed your eyes. "Yes I do, now get back to work." He looked down again. Awhile later he opened his mouth. "_-san, I was thinking, you're very pretty. You should become a model too. This way we can do shoots together!" he exclaimed. You gave a frustrated sigh, trying to hide the fact that you were gushing from Kise calling you pretty. "Kise-kun, let's make a deal, for every page of homework you do correctly we can have a short conversation about whatever you want." "Deal." he grinned triumphantly as he showed you the completed page. "_-san, if we do shoots together, we don't have to spend any time apart. Plus you've been looking for a way to make money right?" You shook your head. "I don't think I have the mentality to be a model." "You just stand there, and move however the photographer wants you to, well it's a little more than that but I know you can do it." "I would have to get recognized by an agent." "I can put in a good word for you," he remarked back. You then gave him a suspicious stare. "Why are you suddenly so interested in having me become a model? You're not usually crazy about spending time together." You were right however, it was rare for Kise to want to really spend a lot of his time with anyone, he usually enjoyed doing whatever he pleases, but for some reason, he started to feel you exist more in his mind than his company. Between his job, the basketball team, and school, he doesn't have that much time at all to be with you. As the clock hit 9:30 he gave you a quick hug before catching the last bus. When you turned around to clean up your stuff you realized there was a slip of paper left on the floor. _"Huh..a number."_ with a woman's name on it.  
The next evening Kise has returned back to your house, a little late again. You waited patiently as you led him in. "Third night in a row so far, I think I'll do a lot better thanks to you!" you nodded, your mind still wondering about what to do with the number. You lightly stroked the piece of paper in your pocket as you sat down next to Kise. The sound of pen scribbling against the paper was the only other noise in the room as you were occupied with your thoughts. _"Should I ask him who it's from? Well, there's no reason to care...no,no it's none of my business but is this why he's been late the last two times?"_ Kise handed the piece of paper in front of you. "I'm done with this page, now we get to talk." You turned to face him. "You left this at my house the other night." You fished out the piece of paper as he opened it. He tilted his head. "Oh, this is the number the model that did the holiday issue gave me." "Ah, I see." Your voice lowered. "Is this why you have been late? Because you've been spending time with her?" Amusement flickered in his eyes as he placed an arm over the table coming closer to you. "Why do you ask? Are you jealous?" He was waiting for you to answer, a deaf silence sweeping the room. "N-no, it's none of my business anyway just forget it." you averted your eyes and turned to the page looking it over. Kise grasped your wrist capturing your attention again. "You're so cute _-icchi!" he was laughing now as he marveled at your red face. "She gave it to me before she left, without asking. I didn't do anything with it, though." "Oh, well just let me know when you'll be late.." you said quietly, secretly relieved that nothing went on. He moved a strand of hair behind your ear. "I thought of you the entire time she and I did the couple's shoot, and I didn't know why." You were blushing hard, now. "_-icchi, you're so cute when you're red like that. It makes me want to squeeze you to death!" he grinned as he pulled you into his chest holding you tightly. "K-kise. Can't...breathe.."

 **Mibuchi Reo**  
Mibuchi smiled as he placed the last of his books back on the shelf after wiping the dust away. It was your turn to help him clean the house. Though without his request, you happily offered your help without much of a fight on his end. "All done!" you smiled proudly at yourself as you placed the broom back in the closet. "You did a wonderful job _-san." You met him at his desk, a deck of cards dropping as you closed one of the drawers a little too hard. "Ah, I'm so sorry!" Reo swiftly caught most of the deck in his big hands, picking up a few that flew onto the floor. You picked up the only one that was left. "You forgot this one." He turned the card over and gave an amused smile. _"The Lovers."_ he thought. "What are those cards, by the way?" "They are called Tarot cards, it's rumored that you can communicate to a higher power and connect with spirits for answers. But really, it's an instrument to communicate with your own intuition and self-will that is reflected in these cards." you oh'ed at his reply not sure how to answer. Reo was so shrouded in mystery, he was endlessly fascinating to you. He placed them back in the drawer. "We have the rest of the afternoon, let's take a walk around the neighborhood." He handed you one of his spare jackets as you both left the house.  
The cool breeze made your cheeks flushed as you walked next to Mibuchi, your arms consistently brushing against one another. "_-san, tell me more about yourself. You always listen to me. I want to listen to you." You timidly looked around. You weren't very used to talking about yourself. He continued. "Tell me what you think about often." _"I think about you often."_ but you refrained from saying so. "I think about what I'd like to do with my life often, what job I would want to have, I'm not really sure yet but I do know I want to do something that I'm passionate about, like helping other people or making a positive difference in the world." He pulled your shoulder close to his side. "What ambitious goals you have," he said almost adoringly. "I admire that. Do you have any hobbies you do in your free time?" it was a good thing it was cold, that way Reo wouldn't be able to tell how flustered his touch makes you. "I like to write..stories. And read them too. I also like nature, being outside a lot." Reo hummed at your reply. "We are at your house, by the way." He led you up the steps. "You know it's nice that we live close, we can always see each other." he patted your back as you unlocked your front door. Before going in you turned around and gave him a hug. "I'm happy too. I'll see you tomorrow, Reo-kun." His hand covered the entirety of your head as his warmth enveloped you.  
As Reo made his way back, he was looking up at the trees. The park that he once traversed so often was remade with memories of you. Now whenever he walks through this park, it was always with you. He smiled. **The Lovers** card that you handed him might as well be a sign too. Though it could be coincidental it was nonetheless, a nice thought. _"I wonder what you want from me _-san.."  
_ You waited on the bleachers for Reo to be finished with practice, you came in near the end after you finished up your work at the library. You came up to him and wrapped your arms around him giving him a hug. He held your shoulders. "_-san, I'm a little sweaty. Excuse me if I smell different" "Your sweat smells good." You awkwardly replied. He gave you a silly look before breaking into a fit of laughter. "Should I be flattered then?" he smiled as he squeezed your shoulder making his way into the locker room. "Say, Reo-nee you and _-san are looking pretty tight." Hayama gave a toothy grin as he bumped his shoulder. Reo took his shirt off, folding it neatly into his gym bag. "She's a darling. Charming and attentive, unlike someone." Hayama huffed. "I am very charming!" Reo chuckled as he left the room. "Hello _-san." He leaned down and smiled at you, pinching your cheek. "Ah, why the pinching?" you pulled his hand away before dragging it to the exit. "_-san, I was wondering if you'd like to go out one of these days. I don't think we ever actually went somewhere before. " You tugged on his shirt. "Why so sudden Reo-kun?" " I want to get to know you a little better, and I'm sure it would be enjoyable to do some sort of activity, don't you think?" He then leaned in. "Don't you want to figure us out?" He turned his head and gave a charming smile. "Personally for me, I am dying to know." It is true, You haven't really gotten to know Reo in that way before, and he is rather important to you. Even if you had feelings for him, a part of you was afraid to lose the way things were now. Contrary to your knowledge, Reo was absolutely enthralled with you. Though he has tried his best to hold back and to be cautious, he couldn't help but find your spirit innocent, and your sense of self, adorable. All he wanted to do was take care of you, although whether or not you want him to see you that way was debatable.  
Now that you thought of it. Reo has always treated you like a child, a little sister, or like he was your caretaker. It was rather eye opening actually. "So tell me where would you like to go? " he asked curiously. "I'll tell you, soon." You entered the bus as you waved to him. _"I want Reo to see me as something more, but I'm not even sure if he's capable of that."_ Outside, you watched his retreating figure.

~~~

As Reo walked you to your class he asked you again. "Did you figure it out yet?" "Reo-kun, I was wondering how do you see me?" before he could answer the bell rung. "I'm going to be late, however, I'll give you an answer after school. Alright?" You reluctantly nodded, the anticipation practically eating at you. You always realized this, but since that night he held you and you both faced the fact that you two were something more than friends, the answer wasn't as clear as day. _"More like shrouded in night.."_ You thought as you took a seat at your desk.  
You two sat on the bench at your usual place at the park. The leaves were falling around you as he took a steady inhale, enjoying the scenery around him. "Are you ready, _-san?" You nodded. "I have always had a softer side for you, since the first day we met you showed how vulnerable you were to me almost right away, there was always a sad look in your eyes, or I've always found myself saving you from some sort of trouble." You gave a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry about that." He started again, this time stroking the top of your hand reassuringly. "As I've gotten to know such deep parts of you so quick, I wasn't all that surprised when I realized the depth of my attachment to you, and us. I've tried to deny it at first, only focusing on helping you as much as you needed me, but I couldn't help but look forward to seeing you grow and get better each day, You're so strong you know that?" "Thank you." "It's not a problem, I should've sorted it out sooner." "Reo-kun..What do you want us to be?" You moved closer to him as you waited for him to talk again. "I never really concerned myself with titles, but essentially I want to be by you, you help you however I can, to be significant to you." You curled your mouth. He cupped your face. "What's that sour look for?" "I..I want you to see me..as a woman" Your face was flooded with a bright redness that spread like flames all across your face. Reo's eye widened in surprise before softening up. "I suppose I'm not good at these types of things" he laughed to himself as he leaned forward. "Do you even know what that means? To treat you like a woman?" he purred at you as he stroked your cheek. "I mean, you were the one that wanted to take me out!" He nodded his head. "This is true, but I was being careful, I didn't know what you wanted..but now that you made your intentions clear," he wrapped his right arm around your waist and pulled you onto his lap. "I can't hold back now."

You were at a loss for words, but he seemed quite content, squeezing your knee as he looked down at you, his nose rubbing against yours. "Is that what you want?" You bit your bottom lip before whispering a "Yes."

 **Kuroko Tetsuya**

"Heh pretty soon I can beat you Kuroko!" he only gave you a look of absolute and pure focus as he languildy caught up to you. you silently cursed trying to outrun him before nearly tripping over your own two feet. An arm latched onto your elbow swinging you back the opposing direction, bumping slightly into him. You remembered the first time you met him, and how he kept books from falling over you. Kuroko somehow always seems to be in the right place at the right time. "You alright?" he asked a flicker of concern dancing across his face. You slowly nod before balancing on your own two feet. He gave a small smirk before lifting the basketball out of your hand. "Got you, by the way." Your eyes widened. _"Did I seriously just let him take the ball away from me?!"_ he once again appeared to have read your thoughts because he was laughing. "Your facial expressions are interesting _."

The chill of the wind was refreshing against your skin as both of you strolled out of the court. There was no school today so you and Kuroko decided to get together. Though a short time was only spent with basketball, you also would sit at Maji burger and observe people together, and sometimes in the park, or during school as well. In fact many times you find yourself into your own little world with him, and he seemed to do the same. Kuroko always seemed detached to you, at first but you were able to recognize how benevolent he actually was. _"Sometimes I wish I was a little more to him"_ you thought, but didn't want to ask too much. Kuroko in a way still seemed to treat you like everyone else, and it became a little hard to see if he actually did treat you differently. Kuroko noticed your prolonged silence and debated whether to interject or not. After some time you finally spoke up. "Kuroko, you seemed to be spending a lot of time with me, I hope I'm not taking you away from anything." He tapped his finger on a chin as if truly contemplating the statement. Finally, he shook his head. "No, I wanted to spend time with you." _"Agh I know he's saying it in a friend way but I just.."_ you rubbed your cheeks. "What are you thinking about?" he randomly inquired. He gave you a side ways glance as you both continued walking.

 _"Well Kuroko I was just wondering how much more time has to pass before we finally confess our love with each other and be together."_ you jokingly thought. "I was thinking about how happy I am to have met you." shyly smiling Kuroko gave a slight nod. "I think the same." he replied. There was nothing more but a silently warm buzz between the space of you two.

After getting home you invited Kuroko in for something to drink. "I'm going to shower real quick" you left the kitchen with him casually poking through your fridge and slid into the bathroom. The water cascaded down with hot droplets beading against your skin. you tried hard to not make it a "thinking" shower but couldn't help your thoughts from drifting away. The more time you spent with Kuroko the happier you were, but the harder it was slowly becoming. You found yourself wanting more with him, from him and felt guilty for feeling selfish. You sighed and leaned against the tiles behind you. "I wish there was a way I could know without actually addressing it." you absentmindedly stepped out of the bathroom door with just a towel on and walked down the hall.

"..._?" Kuroko called out your name with a odd tone as he was standing at the end of the hall way. _"Holy crap I forgot he was still here!"_ mentally smacking yourself "J-just a minute!" you rushed into your room before he could see anything...hopefully he didn't. By the time you got dressed Kuroko was seated on the cough his face showing a very bright shade of pink as he silently sipped the water. He avoided looking at you voicing a "sorry". You instantly felt shy too and looked away "Don't worry, I forgot you were here."

There was a big chance Kuroko was not going to forget what he saw. Trying to clear away his thoughts he looked up at you. "I still have some time before I need to go, is there anything else you feel like doing?" you took a look around before finding an unopened dvd. "I was hoping to watch this. I got it on sale." he took the disc out and leaned down to put it in the player, returning to your side a moment later both of you got settled into watching the movie. While the movie was playing, scenes of the landscape was the first thing you saw, followed by a man haphazardly falling out of an airplane and somehow miraculously landing on his feet. _"Yes, like that's entirely possible."_ you thought. You looked over at Kuroko. _"But then again how is it possible to have blue hair?.. I should really ask him about that some time."_ As time passed you found yourself yawning a few times quietly. It wasn't exactly late but the mental over load was stressing your brain a bit and you haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately. About half way through the movie Kuroko was still intently watching and your eyes were fighting what seemed like a war to stay alive. Not being able to handle much more your eyes fluttered shut and you silently dozed off.

Kuroko still hasn't noticed, but half an hour passed and he heard you mumbling something. Kuroko looked over at you to find you slightly curled up towards his direction. _"She fell alseep.."_ he thought as he fixed a sofa cushion behind you. You were still mumbling, and driven by sheer curiosity Kuroko bent his ear down to hear what you were saying. "Wish...I knew" you mumbled and moved your face slightly. _"Knew? Knew what?"_ Kuroko waited a few more moments. "I like you...Kuroko." you sighed happily and clutched the cushion you were holding. Kuroko turned his face to look at yours, unsure of what to think, or even make of the situation. Through the close proximity he noticed details on you he never saw before. The shape of your lips, the cutest line your forehead makes when you're thinking while sleeping, it was odd to him how he was so interested in watching someone sleep. Finally feeling a little guilty Kuroko gently shook you awake whispering your name in your ear at the same time. "_..._" Your eyes slowly opened, first to the screen that was still playing the movie and then up at Kuroko's face. "Oh I fell asleep." you rubbed your eyes and sat up. "Do you want to finish it next time?" he asked as if preparing to stand up. "No" you replied quickly. Both of you continued to watch the movie, Kuroko finally opened his mouth. "When you were sleeping..." he trailed off. "did you dream about anything?" he waited somewhat anxiously for the answer. You thought about it for a moment, trying to recall anything that would come to mind. "I don't think so, it was sort of hazy." he nodded as if registering what you said. "Its just.." he stopped himself. Your voice piped up. "Just what?" "You said you liked me in your sleep." Kuroko said it rather plainly but you suddenly looked at the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"Oh! Uh, that's embarrassing ahahaha." He looked at you with a blank expression. "Why did you say something like that in your sleep?" you bit your inner lip looking down. "I don't know, just came out I guess, but...since I can't embarass myself anymore, I do like you, though." You didn't expect Kuroko to feel the same way or even answered. "I am not sure of what to do, I never really gone through this." you couldn't help but find him absolutely cute, he seemed so puzzled like this was the most complex mystery in the world. "I also..never exactly felt this way either." Both of your eyes met. "If you feel the same way I do, maybe," he nodded "Maybe I like you too _." Your heart fluttered inside your chest, mouth gracefully agape. "Th-that's good." both of you laughed and the energy of the room seemed to have lighten up. You were also closer to him where you could feel his body heat. "Do you want to continue watching?" you both returned your attention to the screen.

Somehow you ended up asleep again, your head was on Kuroko's shoulder. He seemed to have stiffened up, but since you were asleep, you missed the entirety of his nervousness. Slowly, yet delicately he slouched a little bit downward and rested his chin lightly on top of your head.


	5. The outing

Imayoshi Shoichi

"Shoichi-kun, I'm back."

You appeared next to the man as you arrived at the front entrance of the academy. Imayoshi nodded his head at you before turning his foot to the side "Did you check out another book?"

You shook your head, your fingers intertwining as you laced them behind you. "I didn't want to keep you waiting, but..why didn't you go with me?" He placed his hands in his pockets, moving his navy blue blazer aside. "Too crowded in there today, I prefer it quieter, such as isolated areas."

You stared at him blankly. Crows were cawing by, picking at the remnants of what appeared to be an unattended trashcan. "So you can drag your victims there and end them swiftly?" you expected something. "Come on..be surprised for once."

He chuckled lightly before lifting your bag up for you. "Silly _-san, I probably wouldn't confront my opponent face to face, it'd have to occur somewhere at the same time I am doing something else."

You sighed. "This guy.." Both of you stood there in silence for awhile, unsure of what to say to one another. The school was almost over for a month or so, and you've been familiar with him since near the beginning. However you never once thought of where it could lead. A finger poked your cheek. "Hmm? you're making an odd face, tell me what you're thinking about."

"Nothing, really." you stepped back and attempted to find another topic to shift over to. But the Too captain was not someone who enjoyed the ambiguous. "Tell me." he commanded.

"I was..just thinking about how close school is to ending." He took in your answer for awhile before he began walking away..still holding your bag. "Ah, I see, well as Marty Rubin once said," he lifted his pointer finger up wagging it lightly to and fro.

"Time does not pass, it continues."

"Shoichi-kun!" you stalked to him reaching for your bag in which he held efficiently out of your grasp. You pouted softly, folding your arms together. "You're such a bully." he slowed his pace for you to follow him, At some point he will get bored, say all or whatever he has to say and return it to you. Steps echoed down the sidewalk as your legs followed his intently. Kids were running around their parents, as you passed by an open field, there was a stray wandering it's way through the traffic, trekking down a passing alley. He tilted his head back every now and then to make sure you didn't get lost. How sweet. "Where are you taking me?" you pressed, appearing more prominently by his side. "I am not taking you anywhere, you're simply following me." "Don't give me that! You have something that belongs to me." you pointed at his left arm. "That arm is attached to me, therefore it's mine." he smiled slightly. "W-what?!" you know what I am talking about! You knew I'd follow you if you did that." Imayoshi turned his direction fully on you, while fixing his glasses he leaned down to your height.

"_-san.. be a good girl and wait, can you do that for me?" he purred as he tilted his head at you, your faces seem so close that the tips of his jet black hair brushed against your forehead. "You want me to just follow you?" you returned a suspicious stare, unsure of what he has planned. "Do you not trust me? I just wanted to take you to a place I like." You waited for some strangers to pass you before you raised your voice. "You couldn't just tell me that!?" making a quick move to grab your bag, he took a step back and allowed you to fall into him as he swung your bag over his shoulder. "Tsk tsk, you should be faster then that if you want it." he was smiling wider now, enjoying outwitting you at every turn. He turned his back and strolled further down into town, you following by his side.

He usually doesn't act like this, well he's always been unpredictable but he knew exactly how to manipulate events into going his way..a part of you wanted to believe that he was holding your bag to be a gentlemen, yet a more keen part was sure that it was just used as insurance to make sure you heed his orders. Curious lady as you are, you pursued. After all, you were never really that adept at saying no, or stopping situations by force. This was something you just had to ride along with. You both waited at a crosswalk, the traffic light green, cars blazing by, while you merged with a crowd, waiting. You once again stared up at him, he had a placid face on, expressionless yet seemingly pensive. Seeing the crowd move slightly around you, you began walking forward.

However the light has not turned green for you to walk yet.

A car zoomed by blowing wind up your jacket, you gasp as you stumbled slightly, immersed in your thoughts it has become clear that you blurred out your surroundings, before you could react, an arm slid around your waist pulling you to them. Your back was pressed against a warm chest. "Baka, you're going to need glasses more than me." he whispered behind the shell of your ear, sending chills down your neck as you shuddered slightly. You didn't want him to notice what an effect he has on you, but you've never experienced this before, and it was just as tempting as it was daunting. Though you wanted to stay in this position awhile longer, he let go quickly, continuing forward. "Thank you..I guess I spaced out." "You always do." he remarked cheekily.

Imayoshi finally halted in front of what seemed like a small sushi place. You appeared by him, looking up the bright sign yourself. "Is this it?" He nodded. "I go to this place often, my sister introduced me to it, and I've eaten here since." Both of you sat across from each other, you trying to burn a hole through the menu as you buried your flushed cheeks deep within it's folds. A million thoughts were racing through your head. "Is this a date? But how? it's so sudden..what does he want?"

Ask.

"Shoichi-kun, why did you take me here?" he placed your bag next to his hip as he relaxed his shoulders, taking up most of the leg room under the table. You even waited for your orders to be taken. You even waited when his green tea and your plum juice arrived. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity (realistically 14 minutes) he pondered your question and answered. "I'm quite used to accompanying my sister,it's become a nice place to be with people over time, plus, I got hungry and this was an unplanned juncture." You leaned forward, resting your elbows on the table as you tried to stare bullets into him. "Easy there." his wicked smile was back. "People will think we're together if you're gazing at me like that." he teased sweetly as he sipped on his tea. Your face was on fire, but you continued anyway. "Is this..like a-"

"An outing." he stated. "It's a lovely day for one is it not?" but that wasn't your aim, you wanted to know more..if you were chosen as an interest, the future, something, anything. It was not fair for Imayoshi to keep you in the dark. Imayoshi insisted that you get something, and there was no way you could argue, you were hungry yourself, in fact with how your stomach was painfully growling, you were surprised that the surrounding customers didn't assume there was a feral dog in the place.

"So." he picked up his eel. "Tell me your thoughts on the story." You eagerly spoke. "It was thrilling to say the least, I am glad you recommended it to me, even if it took weeks to finish. The protagonist herself wasn't really compelling, she lacked a lot of conviction, however I found the ending to be satisfying enough, it tied all the questions I had together nicely."

"What did you think of the male character?"

"A little bossy, and deceiving. I can see why she'd fall in love with him, considering she claims they have what they both need in each other."

He leaned his chin on his knuckles. "And what do they need?"

You returned his gesture. "Company. They understand one another through more than just spoken word, it seems like vocal interaction bound them to mundane aspects of socializing, yet mentally they seem to thread relating to one another quite well, I like that each chapter showed a point of view, and you can recognize just how a similar mindset can provoke different behaviors."

Imayoshi's POV

What a smart girl. I was enticed by her opinions, yet she was thoughtful about her delivery. She spoke with such tentative candor, a basket of contradictions. I crossed my left leg over the other. As I finish my rice, I silently observe her to be done. She was quiet again now, wavering between the line of my gaze. Placing folded wads of paper underneath the dish I turned to her.

"_-san, Are you ready?" I watched as she nodded her head swiftly appearing by my side. "I like that. She reminds me of a little retriever." he had something interesting to do. Basketball was an enjoyment, and his afterschool activities weren't bad either, but being with you provided plenty of entertainment for his psyche.

For once he had someone he could leisurely amuse himself with.

Imayoshi followed you out, both of you continuing your conversation, this time Imayoshi relayed his thoughts of it to you. He was peering down at you every now and then, though you only caught less then half the times he did so. Before you knew it, you were entering down a street that had your house on it. He was closer now, brushing his arm against yours. Just as you were opening your mouth, just as you were about to sum up your conversation, you were cut off so suddenly that you almost flew back.

Imayoshi came forward and pulled your arm torwards him, you were nearly pressed up against his chest as he towered over you, reaching around his back with his other arm and sliding your back pack down, he looped it through your arm. "Before I forget." You looked at him almost pleadingly now. This contact, this feeling he gave you, the palpitating heartbeat, the butterflies, "Shoichi-kun, I want to thank you for the meal.." You lowered your voice now as both of you stood under the streetlamp. "Will you tell me why you took me?"

He flicked your nose lightly. "_-san, You are a fairly observant woman. Can you not gather for yourself about the motives of my actions?" "Can you?" you answered back. He slanted his eyes open. "That's easy." He stepped closer to you so that he was looking directly below you. "I find you amusing to be around, You're endless fun." It wasn't good enough in your eyes, just as you were about to continue he parted his lips once more. "I'm quite taken with you, _-san, Though this came with a record of my actions, it was not an active thought."

A smile formed on his lips, an almost genuine one. "I..I um..I really like being with you too, Shoichi-kun," he nodded before waving his hand at you. "Now, hurry inside before I get bitten to death." You waved back before swatting away at the mosquitoes attempting to plan an attack on your arms. The last thing you saw was the subtle glint on the edge of his glasses.

Imayoshi deserved a long one, since I always tend to go light on the length of his chapters!

Kiyoshi Teppei

"Annual Spring Fair! Accompany the blooming blossoms!"

There were flyers everywhere; each one hung nearly on every door. Girls were handing them out with great enthusiasm, and there was much chatter going around. The Spring Festival was a big thing, apparently. You have not gone to one yet, not since you moved here. Moving strands of your hair behind your ear, you kneel down to tie your shoe. "Gee.I didn't expect to hear about this all day."

Recalling earlier, Hana-chan has told you she couldn't attend, and you were unsure of whether to ask Teppei or not. Releasing it from your mind you straightened up and heard a voice calling you quietly from behind. "_-san." Your _ eyes locked with a pair of blues. "Hello Kuroko-kun!" he nodded at you. "Are you coming by practice again?" "Yeah, If I can, I'd like to stop by for a bit." Both of you walked along the hallway. "Kuroko-kun..are you going to the Spring Festival?" he was staring off into the distance, as if seriously weighing his reply. "I usually go, back in middle school, I was hoping the team will go as well." "Oh, I am not sure whether I am going myself." You both reached the front of the gyms doors as he pushed the front open, awaiting for you to enter first. You exchanged an appreciative smile as you entered, him following you closely behind.

Almost instantly, Teppei spotted you and walked over, "_-san!" he patted your head lightly as he greeted Kuroko. The gym was less filled today, it was a practice between games, and though it still appeared like they were going hard, the atmosphere was more relaxed. Your heart melted a little bit, seeing what a tender smile Kiyoshi possessed. You've never had much of anything like your relationship with him, it was pure, and the memories and experiences were brought on by one another's true intention to enjoy time together. "Ohaiyo, Teppei-kun." You followed Kuroko's figure down the court as he disappeared from you two. Kiyoshi tilted his head. "You can see him?"

"Yeah it's easier to be aware of other things around you, when you've mastered observing your own." He nodded, thinking deeply about something. "You say interesting statements _-san." "Oh man I hope I didn't sound preachy or like a know-it-all.." "You! Get back here!" Junpei glared at him.

You exchanged your goodbyes as you turn your back to walk home. It was late spring, and everything was blooming with color, as you went your way out of the school. Much like the flowers tend to represent, it was certainly a time for finishing, or beginning something, the result being just as important as the first step. Reaching your door step you pulled the curtains slightly inward and laid back on your bed, drifting into a nap.

*Knock*

*Knock* *Knock*

"Mmpph.." your eyes fluttered opened, craning your neck to look at the digital clock. Two hours passed.

You sat up and peered down the corner of your window to see who it was, reaching the front door to greet -

"_-san, Hey! O-oh? You look tired." Teppei took a closer look at you. You stretched your arms and placed a hand on your hip. "I was just napping, but it was time I woke up anyway. What's up?"

"Well, today is the Spring Festival, nothing fancy of course, it's hosted by the high school, I wasn't sure If I wanted to go or not." He smiled to himself, "But someone gave me a good idea, you didn't know either right?"

"Kuroko.." You had a smile mirroring his own. "Yeah, I haven't gone to the one here," your voice became slightly high pitched, " would you like to go together?" He laughed, "Hey! I was suppose to ask you that." You looked down "If it's casual I'll just change and grab a hoodie, Come in." leading him into your home, he stopped in the middle of it, surveying the area. "What a beautiful place you got!"

Hanging lights and lanterns surrounded the sides of your vision as you made your way through with Kiyoshi. The place was very unique. It was both traditional, and almost carnival-like. You and Teppei stopped in front of a basketball hoop, three pinned to a board, and prizes such as stuffed animals lined the bottom inside the booth. The boy politely greeted us and encouraged a try. "Teppei-kun, I want to win this for you." You pointed to the stuffed frog plush, it was $5 dollars for 3 shots.

$25 later..

Your mouth thinned into a frown as you missed for the 50th time. Teppei laughed and placed himself behind you. "_-san..Let me win this one for you, okay?" The warmth radiated from his chest as he picked up the ball. Your heart was lightly fluttering, as he caged you between his arms and lifted it up into a perfect arch, with a single swish he made it in. The boy smiled widely and happily handed the frog over, in which he turned to you, with a proud grin on his face. "This one is for you, keep it okay?" "Thank you..I'll cherish it." By now, you've learned to truly enjoy all the kind things Teppei does for you, knowing that he cares much for your happiness was something you're grateful for.

Both of you continued to stroll down the line of booths, having you carry your medium sized plushie on your hip. Teppei was pointing to one thing, and another each explaining to you about how it's a similar or differing theme every year. As the evening passed fewer and fewer students began to surround you as you both stopped by a bench. "I promise you one day, I am going to conquer that game and win you something back, Teppei." you nodded your head affirmatively as you sat down on the end of the bench. He sat down in the middle, your legs touching. "Well.._-san.." he rested his arm on the outline of the bench as he leaned closer to you. "I believe in you, after all, you've conquered me." he murmured softly as his eyes bore into yours.

Time almost seemed to stop as your faces neared each other, you can't believe the things he says sometimes but..the affection you and Kiyoshi have shared with each other was about to manifest into something like a dream. You leaned forward as well, your eyes slowly closing, faces nearing one another. By now you can feel your noses touch as he tilted his head. Just when things seemed to get good, the lamplight above you flickered off. "Huh?" You looked up above you, as you did your lips brush ever so lightly against his. "T-teppei-kun! Gomensai!" leaning back you were blushing furiously, happy again for the darkness to envelope both your bodies. Kiyoshi gave a quiet laugh as stood up "We should get going then, I think they are closing up." he scanned over at the stands, lights slowly shutting off, boxes being packed. Kiyoshi held out his hand in which you kindly took as you both walked through the quiet street together. He was looking up at the stars, as you were looking at him. Observing his peaceful face, you couldn't help but admire how relaxed his demeanor was, he turned his neck over to you and stared at you curiously. "Whatcha looking at? Do I have something on my face?" both his eyes met the tip of his nose. You shook your head, and decided to try again, Were you a lady? Of course, but did you also want to kiss this man? Damn straight. "Not yet." you replied as you leaned up. His brown eyes widened as he instinctively dipped his head low to meet your lips again.

Before you can seal it, a drop of rain plopped on both of your heads. Soon, it began pouring. Both of you blinked in disbelief as you shook the water that was building up in the locks of your hair. "_-san, Let's make a run for it!" he quickly covered your head with his jacket before you both hurried down a few extra blocks, finally stopping under the roof of a cafe. Your hands rested on your knees as you panted, watching the rain patter against the sidewalk. Teppei patted your back. "You okay? I can't believe it started pouring like that." He was scratching the back of his neck looking around as people began bringing umbrellas out, upon exiting the cafe. Just as fast as the rain came, it stopped. You peeked outside from under the awning to make sure there were no stray droplets. "Let's go then!" taking his wrist you began making your way down, trying to ignore the fast beating in your chest as Teppei's large warm hand turned your fingertips over and intertwined between yours. His warm voice was heard just behind your ear. "Stay in the inside, so you don't get pulled around." Teppei tugged you inward, not letting go of your hand.

The last ten minutes home was made in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable..you felt like you were communicating through the soft and firm contact of your hands as you tentatively rubbed your thumb over his. "If holding hands can make me this flustered..I can't imagine.." Images crossed your mind of different types of scenarios with Kiyoshi, shaking your head vigorously you tried to eradicate the thoughts going on in your head.

"We're here." Both of you stopped and looked up at the apartment complex, one of those rooms being your home. "O-oh, well, I had a lot of fun! Thank you for- " your lips were cut off with a smooth and quick movement Teppei made, his fingers tipped your chin up as his lips met yours in a firm but passionate kiss. "M-mmgh.." You wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him back shyly, both of you pulling away with slightly flushed faces. "_-san..I thought about doing that to you for a long time, I just wanted to let you know." He grinned, happy to be able to fulfill his own wish. You held onto your prize, holding him tightly. "Thank you..Have a good night." He wrapped his arms around you giving you a squeeze. "Good night _-san." The stars glittered above the sky, shining brightly above you, but nothing could compare to the shine in both of your glances as you bid a farewell.

Midorima Shintaro

Midorima pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "You're late." he casually stated, looking at your panting form. "S-sorry, I got off track!" "Clearly. " It was the last day of school before the weekend, and you and Midorima had after school plans, per your request of course. Though he would not offer any ideas himself, you had no clue either.

"Mido-kun, Did you get the picture I sent you?" He shook his head, "I don't know why you send me pictures of your cats." Crossing your arms, you followed up closely by his side. "Because I want to share my life with you! And I love my cats." He gave an annoyed reply, "If you wanted to share something, you should talk about something more personal with you, nanodayo!" You lifted an eye, finding a perfect chance to tease him. "So you want to know more about me Mido-kun?"

He looked away, a pink hue on his cheeks. "D'don't call me that!" Petals passed you as you enjoyed your surroundings, breathing in the fresh spring air. "It's so beautiful out..not as impressive as this guy though." You silently fan girled to yourself as you marveled the tall and green haired man strolling by your side. His eyes angled to the corner, giving you a side glance. He..he was staring you down. As if on cue, you averted your vision to the passing students, waving to some you know and nodding to others. "You became more social." He observed. "Yeah, since I've grown used to talking to you and Takao, I guess I feel more comfortable talking to others!" you were rather proud of yourself. Instead of letting miscommunication pass you by, you stood your ground and tried your best to clear things up, never running or avoiding people but giving your best to explain to them what you're thinking. It was not them that gave up on getting to know you, it was that you never even allowed others the opportunity to see you in a different light. But since getting close to Midorima, you've realized a lot about friendship, opening up, and the tender and careful process of getting to know one another. The term relationship, was beginning to hold a new meaning to you.

"Mido-kun, How did you think you did on the math exam today?" you inquired. He had a thoughtful expression, but answered rather fast. "It was easy, I hardly wanted to study for it, but arrogance makes the best of fools." You laughed, your hand covering your chest as if it was too much to bear. "You always laugh at something not meant to be funny!" an anger mark was appearing on the side of his temple as he glared at you. "It's not that!" still laughing you put your hands up. "You're just..unique." "I know that." Your attention was immediately shifted over to a shop that was titled Antiques. Midorima stopped in front of the door and stepped in, a bell ringing upon his entrance, he held the door open to you waiting for you to accompany him. You followed him inside as you took in all the fascinating and historic looking objects around you. "W-wow! Look at all this stuff, I've never even seen anything like it before.." you tried to look over Midorima's shoulder to see what he was up to, he was thumbing through an old astrology book, that displayed the constellations that made up the zodiac. You pointed to a page. "What's that one?"

"Aquarius, the water bearer."

"And that one?"

"Leo, the lion."

He lifted his arm slightly up so you can get a better view, but you leaned in too close and his arm hugged the side of your shoulder, Midorima began to stutter, not noticing the problem you continue to point to different examples on the page. "Which one is that?" "A-aries." then he turned facing you, his face red, the book in view now. You gave him a puzzled expression. There was a pretty globe in the back of the store, Some owl statues on the shelves, and even a nice cherrywood coffee table sitting in the middle. After awhile of looking through the store, you decided to talk to Midorima more, in an effort to get to know why you were here. "Oha asa has a variety of lucky items each day, some are easy to attain, others require a more trained eye." He took the astrology book and picked up a fancy lamp with a leaf stem curved around the base. You both met the lady at the cash register. "Oh I still have the book." Midorima left you for a moment to return it, the lady quickly leaned over, covering her hand on the side of her face as she whispered to you. "Hey..are you his girlfriend?" You blinked a few times and pointed to yourself. "Me? His girlfriend?" "This is the first time I've seen him bring a girl around here, and I saw him put an arm around you before." she giggled before shaking her head. "None of my business though!" Midorima made his way back looking suspiciously between the lady's giggling, and your shocked expression. She rung him up before you exited.

"What was she laughing about?" Curious about how he would react, you decided to tell him. Midorima's face stayed composed, to slight confusion, to full on surprise when you finished. He shook his head, rubbing his temple. "That lady is extremely nosy for speaking of such a matter." "You sure are conservative, Mido-kun." Though Shintaro wasn't sure, he suddenly began thinking deeply over your statement. Was he really conservative? Well of course, but did _-san see that as something unappealing? He was frustrated and concentrated on something else instead.

"Well, you have a very bad sense of direction, and your luck could use improving." he remarked. You stopped and stared at him. "I was just kidding! You didn't need to criticize me." "Those are simply statements, which both happen to be true." You heaved a heavy sigh as the wind picked up, your hair breezing passed behind your shoulders. You understand the nature of this man, but at the same time you really began to think deeply if friends is the proper word to call your relationship, though you know he cared, he only showed it on special or appropriate conditions, but you didn't want hastiness to get in the way. There is no worse mistake you can make, when you're impatient, and you're not even sure what you're waiting for.

But it was something more.

"Hey, _-san." He beckoned you over, in which you quickly followed. It was ball court, near the park. "I need to try something out." You both entered through the gate as he picked up a basketball, missing it's owner. He stared intensely at it, scanning every inch to make sure it was not dirty, or dangerous to handle, after what seemed like a supreme court decision, he brought it over, and ask you to stand outside the lines, close to the hoop. He made a shot - but it missed. "I've never seen him miss before.." a worried look washed over your face. "Are you okay Mido-kun? What made you miss?" He angled his neck to your direction as he picked up the ball again. "You."

"M-me?" He sighed. "This was not your fault, _-san, but one of the time's I've missed at the match against Seirin, you were sitting in front of my line of sight, your face was so pale, and you seemed nervous. It caught my attention." He continued, his voice slightly lowering. "I realize now that it wasn't the expression you made, it was just you that distracted me." You felt guilty now and crossed your arms across your chest as the temperature began to drop. He strolled over to you and placed his jacket over your shoulders. "Don't blame yourself, I didn't want you to think that, just...sit behind me, or by my side when you come, that way I'll focus on the hoop instead of you." Your guilt overturned into realization. "Mido-kun, Why do you look over at me when you make your shots? Surely they're many people you know as well, and they don't interfere with your shots." He led you out of the court leaving the ball in it's original spot. Facing you, he narrowed his eyes. "I. don't. know." he was frustrated, again, it seemed like all this girl does is just confuse him and make him stutter a lot. Your thoughts drifted into high hopes, then lovey dovey moods, and dates..eating ice cream together, holding hands. Midorima read your mind and stood back. "Don't take it that way! I'm sure it's only because I've grown used to seeing you asking me for something whenever we talk!" You pouted again, "Why can't you ever say something nice?" "My original statement wasn't even complimentary to begin with!" "Well it's nice to hear once and awhile!" when you retorted he stared at you oddly.

Slowly, he turned ahead and began walking, he stopped, without looking back. You saw that he waited and followed by his side, it was beginning to slowly darken around you, yet not dark enough for the lamps to automatically illuminate. "Midorima-kun, can you drop me off by the bus stop?" "Why are you going there? It's going to be late by the time you get home." Your voice was quivering now. "I don't want to make you walk me home." I want to walk you home." "B-but-" he suddenly stopped and turned around taking a few steps closer to you as he met your face with a pensive gaze. "_-san, why are you behaving this way?" "Because..I didn't want to say anything for the longest time because I was worried you wouldn't want to be friends anymore, but since I've been talking to others more often I saw that it's best to state my feelings plainly and honestly." You inhaled. "I feel like you don't care about having me around, and it hurts my feelings." But his response was unexpected, and didn't seem to have anything to have to do what you were saying. "If you have such a problem with the way I regard you, go to your new friends, and forget all about me then." his tone changed on the term friends, encouraging you to dig deeper. "Mido-kun..I could never replace you, that's why I spend a lot of time being by your side, you're great company you know." he opened his mouth wanting to say something but nothing came out.

Instead he extended his arm and pulled you abruptly close to him, into a hug. You can smell him as you subtly inhaled his scent. "Tch..you say such cheesy things" he murmured as he held you close for awhile. He then stepped back, placing a small box in your hand. You stared down at your palms at the petite box, "This is for me?" "I just gave it to you, who else is it for?" You opened the box to see a beautiful butterfly barrette. "It's your lucky item for tomorrow, I bought it when you were exiting, the lady was giving me an odd smile though."

"Are you his girlfriend?.." you smiled widely before closing the box and hugging him again. "Thank you! I can't wait to wear it!" "It's not a big deal! you're attracting a lot of attention!" You both walked home, your body suddenly feeling buzzed from the prior exchange.

-The next day-

You ran up to Midorima with a grin on you. The butterfly barrette was placed nicely on the side of your head holding a long lock of hair out of the way. Midorima looked at you and then at the accessory on your hair. "How do I look?" you asked eagerly your eyes shining like saucers as you stared expectantly up at him.

He faced away from you, briefly answering. "You..you look pretty." he muttered. For the rest of the school day he spent his time admiring you every time you were distracted, his stares became even more frequent, as you began wearing the barrette every day then on.

Aomine Daiki

"Hey." A finger poked your forehead. "Wake up." Aomine leaned over you as you seemed to have fallen asleep on the roof, damn, he was becoming a bad influence on you. You rubbed your eyes and groggily looked up at him. "How long have I been napping?" He was staring at your chest before answering. "Blue today." "Huh? w-what?" you followed his gaze and saw that your bra was slightly exposed. You immediately shrieked and headbutt him knocking him back. "Damn it woman!" he rubbed his ass as he looked angrily over at you. "Don't look at me like that pervert! I'm not the bad guy!" If I was the bad guy," he smirked. "Then I'd be squeezing your chest, but I didn't didn't I?" you were dumb founded. "AHomine! That's not a reason to defend yourself with." You crossed your arms tightly over your chest. "15 minutes." he was leaning back his hands behind him. "W-what? We need to get to practice this is the first time I'm late!" you shouted as you got up, but a hand wrapped around your wrist and pulled you back down, your back suddenly meeting the ground. He was kneeling over you now. "Wait."

"I need to get some new shirts today, Wanna come?" But you denied. "We need to go to practice, don't even try to tempt me to ditch." He gave a devious smile. This was his new challenge now. Everyday he has tried to convince you to hang out with him instead of attending practice but you've won with a lot of sweat - and tears. Well fake tears, and a little manipulating, but still! "_-san, Momoi is out sick today and so is Wakamatsu, it's no fun without teasing him, or having Momoi there, it's not going to make any difference. "Yeah..but..it's really best to stay on track! If you can't discipline yourself to attend practice everyday then-" "You're a completely normal person if you don't" he cut off. "That's not true!" he gave an annoyed sigh and clamped your mouth with his hand. He leaned close to you. "Listen. You're going to listen." He stared deeply into your eyes. "Are you listening to me?" You nodded yes, waiting for his answer.

"Whether or not you go or don't go, You can't make me go to practice, even more so today." He uncovered your mouth and rested his arms on his knees. "So, you can choose to accompany me today, or not." Before you even had time to think he already jumped down to the lower level of the roof. You grabbed his arm once you caught up to him. "Fine." he gave a wicked grin. "Let's go!"

You made your way out of the school, him walking plainly by the gym doors as you effectively tried to hide as you passed by the doors yourself. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and nearly pushed his way through the exiting crowd of students. "Hey! Relax" you caught up with him apologizing to nearby people who were giving you annoyed looks at his rudeness. Though he walked fast, you managed to keep up with his pace, basketball matches with Aomine was starting to become worth it. Within no time you reached the mall, billboards plastered around the surrounding shopping center as you entered. There was a lot of girls in here today, and that was because there was a sale at (generic store brand here.) and it was crowded with eager teens wanting to be up to date with the latest trends. Aomine stopped in front of the display window as he closely observed the lingerie. "Say, _, I bet this one would look good on you." Aomine casually pointed to the bra and panty set, it was peach colored and rather attractive. You swatted at his arm. "You're so inappropriate!" shaking your head you stalked forward not even caring if he was following you now or not.

Daiki reached you in a couple of strides as he made a turn into the store he was looking for. There was not a lot of people, except for one or two employees and he made his way to the shelf looking for the folded shirts. "Oh Aomine-kun" you pointed to a dark purple v neck t-shirt. "This would look nice with your skin tone." He lifted an eyebrow up as he casually tucked it under his arm along with a few other choices and a hoodie. Though it was done as if it wasn't a big deal, it came across as big to you, Aomine would never usually take your opinions in right away, so it was nice to see he considered your recommendation without much effort.

You stayed outside the fitting room with your ankle over the other, leaning against the wall. The young teen pointed towards the chamber as Daiki made his way in with the door shut behind him. Only after a couple of minutes has passed by before you heard your name being called. "_." Looking over your shoulder you walked closer to the fitting room door to make sure you were hearing things right. "_. I need your help" an urgent voiced pressed, the door slid slightly open as you peeked in. "Y-yeah?" The sight was rather funny.

Aomine was stuck in a hoodie way too small for him, one arm jammed up in the head space and the other stuck within the material. You entered and close the door behind you as you lifted it up, helping him out of it. He took a deep inhale as he threw it on the ground. "That was not even close to a medium." You ogled at the sight before you, his shirt was nowhere to be seen, and he was now bending over to try on the purple shirt. "I..I- should get going!" turning on your heel, your exit was blocked by a hand on the knob. "Wait." he was breathing down your neck, while you were shaking. He chuckled. "You need to loosen up a bit" he whispered in your ear as he stood back up straightening the shirt down his chest, the material rolling down his lean abs. You looked him up and down, consuming the sight of him as his eyes glinted with curiosity. "What do you think?"

"It looks good!" Aomine jerked the corner of his lips in a slight smile as he unlocked the door shooshing you out. "Alright, I'll be out in a sec."

Leaning against the wall again, each time you closed your eyes, the image of a shirtless Aomine was burned into your retinas, brighter then the overhead lights in the store, you shook your head of the image before hearing the door click opened. The tan skinned man appeared by your side as you followed him to check out. "_-san, do you need something as well?" he held his bag, walking around the mall. You shook your head but looked around at the stores anyway, watching kids cry and pout, attempting to pull their mothers away from the clothesline in one store, a man falling asleep in a massage chair in another. "I am good, thank you." He made his way to the food court and bought a milkshake, a chocolate for him, and strawberry for you. Your eyes flickered with pleasant surprise. "You remembered I like strawberry?" he casually shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, so what? not a big deal."

You happily sipped down the milkshake, your glances meeting once before he shyly averted his attention to something else. "We need to get you something" he stated. Standing in front of a rather feminine looking store you nervously looked around. "No thanks! Besides I bet you just want to go in so you can look at the large posters of women." "Nothing compares to Mai." he took your wrist leading you in. His height gave him a major advantage as he found the blouses and tops right away. He looked through the colors and designs with little thought, pointing to one. "Take that one." You obliged. With only one top you went to the fitting room. "Wow he actually has good taste, I wonder why he's putting in so much effort to take me to a store then pick something out, though.." just before you could begin to think more deeply you left the room to see Daiki talking to a lady, who appeared to work at the store. She had a bunch of clothes in her hands which she unloaded onto him, much to his attempted refusal. As she walked away he caught your eyes and walked over. "This lady was being pushy about you trying on more things." he handed it over to you. "Take it. I'll wait for you." he placed the clothes in your hands, happy it's off of his before disappearing again.

After what seemed like hours, you decided to pick out two things. A sky blue blouse with laces tied neatly on the sides, to accentuate your hips, and a flower pattern one, covered in different pastel colors. Walking out, Daiki was paging through a magazine. You silently checked out. "Where the hell did he whip out that gravure magazine from.."Aomine was making his way to you by the time you returned and commented on the two blouses, saying that you didn't pick the one he suggested but a "know-nothing" lady instead. You laughed and teased him for his sensitivity.

"Say, Aomine-kun, Why did you urge me to go shopping for myself?" "Because, shopping makes girls happy, and better to be around." he was recalling from his experiences with Momoi, the only way he could ever get her to shut up was if he distracted her with shopping, however this wasn't his intention with you, he just wanted to see you relax more. Reappearing at the front doors, Aomine and you took the bus back near school. "You know what was weird? The lady said that it was half off, this shirt." He grinned. "I switched the tags, it was outrageously expensive and she was new. No harm done though." "How do you know? We have to return it at once!" He caught your arm. "Calm down will you? The mall is already closed. Besides, it's not something she will get in trouble for, mistakes like that happens a lot." "Did he want me to be able to have it?" "I..guess you're right." you were absolutely tired from walking so Aomine took his time with you as your paces slowed. The last bus always had the least amount of people in it, but nonetheless you decided to sit next to him anyway, he made you feel safe. You slowly nodded off again..your head leaning almost fully on his shoulder as he shifted. "We're here." He stopped in front of your house, as you sleepily searched for your keys in your bag, he sighed, growing impatient he snatched it out of your hands and unlocked his way in. "Where's your room?" you pointed down the hall, slipping off your shoes as you yawned again.

He carried your bags to your room before returning in front of you. You were leaning back in your couch, slowly drifting off to sleep again, it was a long day, the only reason why you've been napping was because you were up late studying for exams again. He gave an annoyed sigh as he lifted you up, nudging your head into the crook of his neck "Such a pain in the ass.." placing you on the bed he leaned over. "You got energy to change or should I undress you too?" he was teasing you, but you managed to summon what was left of your energy to jab him in the ribs. "Ow! geez, you're also violent in your sleep? I'm going to leave before I get assaulted." He turned the lights off and looked back at you. "Good night, _." and closed the door, to your room and to the house on his way out.

Akashi Seijuro

Standing in front of the classroom door, you lifted your hand on the knob. It turned, but from the other side. "Good afternoon, Akashi-kun." You bowed politely. "_-san, I wish to inform you that I must cancel today's lesson." He had a bored expression on, his hand still resting on the knob. You reluctantly nodded, weighing the option of whether to ask the reason why. Akashi took notice of your wavering face as he cleared his throat. "I will be performing a piano recital today, at the theater uptown." You perked up and met his handsome face. "You play piano? How wonderful, Piano is beautiful." Folding his arms across his chest he closed his eyes in response. "If you will enjoy it, then you should attend. Many people come to enjoy the piano." "R-really?, You wouldn't mind?" He gave you a curious look. "Why would I? Crowds of people come to see me play." his aura was flowing with pride as a confident smile spread across his face. "I'll see you then Akashi-kun! Thank you for the invitation." He nodded before stepping passed you and making his way out.

It was around 6:30 on the dot that you arrived. "Excuse me miss." You had a lovely black dress on, simple yet elegant, your _ hair was tousled and rested neatly on your shoulders. Turning to the direction of the voice, an older looking gentlemen with glasses greeted you. "Are you Miss _?" "Yes, May I help you?" he nodded before standing back up. "I was informed of your presence here tonight, There is a seat for you." You stared at him reluctantly before following him inside, he led you to a seat close near the front, but not directly overhead as you sat at an adjacent side, near the bench of the piano. There was a lot of noisy chatter as people, mostly adult began filling in the seats near and around you. The lights dimmed and the voices transformed into hushed whispers as applause began appearing throughout the crowd, Akashi appeared in a stunning black suit and bowed, his eyes landing on yours as he appeared back up and took a seat on the bench. As he began playing, he started off with a famous piece of another country, Green Sleeves, and slowly phased in other melodies. You closed your eyes and leaned back enjoying his serenading.

Near the end of his performance, The crowd erupted into loud applause as many stood up from their seats. Though Akashi was polite, he didn't seem at all phased by the good reception - as if he expected it.

He gave a stunning smile before disappearing behind the stage. The next act came on, a Violinist. You noticed from the corner of your eye, Akashi beckoning you over with a single finger. Getting up, you quietly made your way over, greeting him with a warm smile. "That was spectacular Akashi-kun!" You both walked outside until you were at the front doors again. "I've been playing since I was young, The violin as well." He had his jacket hanging neatly over his arm while greeting some other guests who noticed him. Not sure whether or not it would be proper to introduce yourself you just averted your eyes, paying attention to other things. "And this is a fellow classmate of mine, _." Caught by the mention of your name you bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you." The young women and her husband nodded, "Did you enjoy the recital?" You beamed up at them, "Very much so, Akashi-kun is talented." Akashi folded his arms over his chest and gave a slight smile, it differs from the rest of the compliments he received, when he got one from you, After all you were a usually defensive and quiet lady, but that didn't seem to stop you from not acting impolitely or not give credit where proper credit is due. You were fair, in both appearance and personality, Seijuro nodded his head to himself as if to affirm this.

It was getting a little chilly now, the night sky was rather cloudy, showing no sign of stars, the only thing hanging in the heavens was the silver slit of a crescent moon. "Do you have any more engagements for the rest of the night?" he asked after the couple left. You shook your head, "No, my only plan was to go to see you." and yes, you sure have been seeing him - a lot. Whether it was after or before basketball practice, or Student Council, Akashi always notified you when he would be available, and has been very generous with his time with you. Akashi pointed his chin over to the limo. "I'll give you a ride." the driver opened the doors for both you and him before closing the door on himself. "Say, Akashi-kun, Where is your parents? Did they go to see you?" Akashi leaned back on the seat, straightening his legs out. "My father only attends if he has time, and my mother is no longer around." his voice was rather emotionless, as if stating facts. "Oh, I see..Well I appreciate you inviting me, I'm glad I went." Akashi chuckled to himself. "If you enjoyed yourself, I'll inform you any time I have a recital." Smiling warmly at him he opened an eye and angled it your way, "Thank you, Akashi-kun."

After some time has passed, you realized that the place to your home has passed, blinking you turned back to him. "Where are we going?" "I've asked the driver to take us to a nearby park. It's still early out, and I am not in the mood to depart just yet." As he finished his statement the car was already in park, Akashi waved to him, and the driver notified he would be back soon. As you both got out, you were grateful that you were flats instead of heels or this wouldn't be too comfortable. He began walking and you followed soon after.

"_." You looked up at him, his eyes were still ahead before pondering his next words. "What is the reason you accompanied me today?" Though the answer should be obvious, that you enjoyed piano, and that you had no other plans, you forgot Akashi was more cunning, if not deductive then you thought he was. Surely, if he claimed to have known you as well as he initially stated, he would figure out that you never go out, or even socialize too often unless it was something worth it to you. Perhaps he was wondering what your motives are with him, after all, being a son of a powerful family can cause rift for many reasons, he could be thinking you're after his money, or using him for fame and recognition, he could be thinking you are plotting his downfall by getting close and learning secrets about him or even attempting to assassinate him. You shook your head, there was no doubt the many possible reasons but you only need to give him yours. "I..I've come to enjoy your company, Akashi. Though you are not outwardly complicated, it seems fairly easy to talk or reason with you, and I don't feel like I must entertain or do anything to keep your camaraderie." He nodded his head, as both of you continued walking, You soon passed by a rather isolated graveyard, it sat behind a big hill, flowers were blooming all around it, and there was only a single grave stone ahead, it was big though, but you couldn't make out the name. He turned to you. "Wait here."

You followed his figure as he made his way down and disappeared, wondering who he could be visiting you turned the other way out of respect. The moon was now covered by the clouds, and you could barely see anything, though a hand rested on your shoulder before a head of a figure leaned down, you nearly jumped out of your dress. "Calm yourself, it's just me" Akashi's voiced rung out of the surrounding darkness. He held his hand out to you as you took it, his fingers brushing against your wrist as he helped you up. You both were talking side by side, you leaning more into him as it grew windier and cold. "_" he said softly. It seemed like he enjoyed calling your name a lot. "Yes, Akashi-kun?" He wanted to ask many things, why it seemed so easy to be around you, why you weren't intimidated by him, why he felt at ease with you, but instead he closed his eyes. "The limo is here."

Arriving at the front step of your home you stepped closer to Akashi, who wanted to walk you out to the front door instead of bidding a farewell from the window of the car. What a gentlemen. "Thank you for the lovely evening, Akashi-kun" He was staring at you, to your surprise he reached forward and tilted your chin up, then turned to the side, to pick a leaf out of the lock of your hair. You tried to cover your face from embarrassment, but he kept his stare on you. "I will see you tomorrow, _. Take care of yourself." you bowed to him as he exchanged it back, your eyes resting on his before you closed the door behind you.

Akashi waited until you went to your house, even waited until the light in your window faintly illuminated the outside darkness before signaling for the driver the go ahead, for the rest of the time, his thoughts were about you, not exactly objective, or subjective either, but one of quaint curiosity.

Kise Ryouta

"No."

"Please?"

"No." you repeated yourself again.

"Come onnn _-icchi! it's a new place, and I want to go!"

You crossed your arms over your chest and cocked an eyebrow. "Well, then you go yourself."He pouted. "That's no fun! besides you need to try more new things, you're way too set in your ways." He was scolding you now, tipping his chin upward as if he knew everything.

"Ryouta-kun, First, It's a karaoke club, its loud, it has singing, and it always has a lot of people, especially now since so many girls are going to go bonkers watching you!" Kise's eyebrows quirked as he neared your face, touching your nose lightly with his. "Alright , I know I shouldn't freak out but if someone even bumps into him we would be kissing.." "Ohhh! I get it! _icchi is jealousssss~~!" he laughed whole heartily before you smacked him on the head. "Absolutely not! It's just annoying!" "I know, I know. I'm just kidding. But will you at least think about it? For me? I'd really have more fun with you there." His smile was brief, but warm before the ringing of the bell sounded down the halls. You both stood up and he pinched your cheek before making his way towards his own class, a few girls instantly greeting him by his sides.

You took some deep though into this, Your feelings for Kise was rather murky, you didn't really know how to regard him, you find him charming, and handsome, and he seems very understanding and accommodating to your differences in character but a selfish part of you couldn't help but wonder what he could offer you. If you were him, you know he would never think like this, he seems to enjoy every moment of life that passes him by, a person who lives in the present. Unlike you who believes in the future the past, and once and awhile remember what's going on around you, but as detailed oriented, as you are, you decided to snap out of it. What matters is that you enjoy your time with Kise, and you like the way he makes you feel, plus you don't have a whole array of friends or anything like that so it's not a big deal. During the times you and Kise would pass one another in the class, he would give you a pleading look, a please-say-yes statement written all over his face as he attempted to juggle between looking at you and making small talk with another girl next to him.

It was the last class that you and he shared together, though you took your time getting there. Clinging your bag tightly to your side you overheard some girls talking. "Yeah ever since they were project partners, they haven't been apart since." "Ugh, that's so unfair, it's only by luck that she got to be his partner, but now they're friends?"

"Who does she think she is?"

"A greedy person who is hogging Kise to herself."

"How pathetic."

Voices clamored together and giggles were exchanged as three other students leaned just outside the bathroom catching up with one another. It was obvious you knew who they were talking about, after all, Kise was one of , if not the most handsome and charming man in school, both gifted with appearance and ability in basketball - though with his grades, you were pretty confident he needed you there to help him study. Was this going to stop you though? Were what a bunch of stupid girls opinion's really going to affect how you go about your friendship with him? you smiled to yourself. "Well well, these girls just made my decision for me."

As you appeared by your desk you sat down and began taking your books out; your presence was instantly noticed, by your blond haired friend and some hormonal female students nearby. He smiled over at you as the teacher arrived shortly after.

1 New Message

Hey.

1 New Message

Hey!

1 New Message

Are you gonna go?

Kise was impatient, but you were in no position to reply at the moment, unlike Kise, being sly and getting away with things was nothing of a talent you have acquired. At the end of the class, he strolled over to you, before anything could be said you nodded your head, "Alright fine, I'll go." He grinned and pulled you into a one arm hug. "I knew you'd see it my way."

The lights were flashing - rather obnoxiously as the sign was displayed boldly on top of the building "Grand Opening!"You took a tentative step forward. He nudged you on. "Don't worry I'll be right here okay?" He was wearing a light blue button up with dark blue jeans, you in a yellow floral blouse, dark brown stockings underneath with shorts over them. Kise had glasses folded neatly on the neckline of his shirt as his eyes marveled at the colorful lights and neon sign in front. "I'm excited! I can't wait !" he skipped hurriedly in, people staring at him as he passes by. Meanwhile you were still in the front, gripping your bag tightly. You ran your fingers through your hair before taking a step forward. The front door opened again and he signaled you over, pulling your arm into the were cushioned seats surrounding the sides, on the one hand, it was rectangular booths and on the other it was rounded tall tables. The place was very trendy, and the design was nothing like you've seen before, there was two stages, one in the front and one in the back, lights, and flashing lights were everywhere.

Already, you saw Kise on the stage singing his heart out to a tune you didn't quite recognize. You couldn't help but admire him, he was passionate, yet looking like he was having fun, "I'm envious, I wish I could open up and bloom like that.." Women and men, all people alike were watching passively in the background as a group of students you were familiar with cheered him on and squealed. You sipped on your soda and spectated him quietly, watching how his hair swayed back and fourth, his movements gracing all across the stage, this man can literally do everything. Resting your chin on your hand, the song has finished and Kise received much praise and applause before he had to gently push his way of the crowd to come and meet you. "Hey! How did I do out there?" He was exuberant, and you couldn't help but feel happy for him. "You did great..Can I leave now?" Feeling visibly uncomfortable he knitted his brows in worry. "I..I'm sorry _. I guess it was rather selfish of me to drag you here, and also spam you until you replied yes." You shook your head "No, no don't worry about it." You gave him a meek smile, before standing up. "Your friends are waiting for you" you motioned over to the small crowd, who was staring at you intently. Kise took some time to register the situation before turning his eyes back on you. "Are they making you feel uncomfortable _-icchi?" he cast them a glance, then got his jacket and quietly took your wrist leading you out.

His expression was more gentle now, and he kept giving you reassuring smiles. "W-why are you looking at me like that?" you inquired, giving him a perplexed look. "You're cute, I haven't really met a girl that didn't like doing things like that" he spoke softly. Kise reached his hand over and gently patted the top of your head. "Lets go somewhere else then, What do you like to do?" You were blushing wildly, There were so many different sides to Kise, childish Kise,flirtatious Kise, assertive Kise..and now gentle Kise. "I really like museums, aquariums, zoos, stuff like that." He was looking through his phone now, "Ah! I just looked it up, if we take the subway, there is a small aquarium about twenty minutes away! Let's do that." "Is it something you would enjoy too?" He placed a finger under his chin and began wondering. "It's something I'd enjoy if I were with you_-icchi, So I guess yes!" he smiled warmly at you before you en route to your destination.

This place was a lot more different, It was geared more to kids but you were excited nonetheless. You gave a nervous smile as you both entered, Kise and you marveled at the giant squid, the shark tank, and various types of starfish, seahorses and octopus, you both sat outside to witness a sea lion doing different kinds of tricks and even got to go back stage to see how they were fed and taken care of, the whole time you were having fun Kise was staring at you, smiling to himself. "This is what it feels like, when she sees me have fun.." though this was not usually in him, it made him happy to be able to give back to you.

You went to the nearby thrift store to buy the pictures of you and Kise feeding a sea lion, him closing his eyes and slowly inching out toward him as you pet the top of another sea lion's head. You gave one to Kise. "This one is for you! I had a great time today, Thank you so much for taking me Ryouta-kun!" You swung your arms around his waist hugging him tightly. He blushes a bit before gently stroking the back of your head, his other arm resting on your shoulder. "It wasn't a problem, I had fun too _-icchi."

You smiled to yourself. So there was something Kise could give to you. "Happiness."

Reo Mibuchi

Your eyes fluttered open.

You realized that you were being carried on someone's back. "R-reo-kun!" you sat up but he tightened his grip around your thighs to steady you from falling backwards. Though you couldn't see, his mouth was curled into a tight lipped frown. "You passed out earlier, when we were exiting the school, it was out of nowhere too." "I did? What happened?" he shook his head as he continued to piggy back you. "You looked a little pale today, Have you been eating?" You realized that you had your arms wrapped around his neck and placed them on his shoulders instead "You can put me down..I think I can walk." He respected your wishes and kneels lower to let you hop off, turning to face you. "No, I haven't been eating, I guess I tend to forget when I have a lot of things to do."

Mibuchi placed a hand on his hip and cocked an eyebrow at you. "Do you really expect me to say that's a proper reason for you to neglect your health?" he sighed deeply and flung his hand up casually in the air as if waving you away. "I swear, you're reckless sometimes." You held back a laugh, Reo was just like a mom if he wanted to be. "Yes, I know - you're right." was all your replies as he continued to scold you about your health and what you should be eating and how many times to eat a day. He took a look at his phone. "Obviously I can't trust you to even take care of your own basic needs, so we are going grocery shopping today." "What? I know how to go grocery shopping!" he shook his head. "You are going to cook a nice and nutritious dinner, and I am going to help you, you'll have left overs for the next two days, that shouldn't be too hard to do, heating it up after." he smirked at you. You rolled your eyes but reflected inner gratefulness, sometimes you do need someone to tell you things, instead of just doing them for you.

The supermarket was about a 12 minute walk, You talked to Reo about the ridiculously hard pop quiz on the Heian period of Japan and stressing about how you didn't cover that chapter at all, much to your expectation Reo remarked on how easy it was, and how it was due time that a pop quiz was administered. Both of you entered the super market, littered with small families, busy mothers or single businessmen getting their meals for a night, two, or even a week. You saw a little boy begging his mom for a box of cereal with a giant pink lion on it - you witnessed as a teenage guy slipped a chocolate bar into his pocket only to be reprimanded by a manager. "Wow, a lot of commotion today, is it usually this busy?" Reo knocked on a watermelon as he checked it for ripeness. "Yes, It's the end of the week, nearly - many people have guests over, also it is early evening." You couldn't help but wonder why you even asked such an obvious question, Reo can make such swift and accurate observations yet you blurt out the next thing that comes off your mind. Reo smiled at you. "I like that you can just ask anything you're curious about _-san, such an inquisitive girl." "What is he? a mind reader now?"

You picked out some chicken, stocked up on spices, and bought some red, yellow, and green bell peppers. Reo came over with a basket, and continued to stock up on more vegetables, tofu, and bags of rice, then remarked about how important it is to keep a balanced yet diverse diet. You looked at all the items in the basket. "Reo, at this rate I think I'll have enough left overs to last me weeks." He followed your gaze before coming up with an idea. "Let's split the left overs then _-san, That way we can make the most use of it." Just as you were checking out, Reo took out his wallet, he then reached it over his head to keep you from touching it. "_, let me pay for it, it was my idea, and we are going to be using your kitchen that's fair is it not?" "But.." he bopped you on the nose lightly with a red pepper. "No buts."

You carried half the bags, after much insistence, Reo was an odd one. He tells you to do this and that, he says you should be responsible for things yet he wants to pay for all the groceries and carry all the bags. This guy was just a double sided standard. "Reo-kun, Do you not have basketball practice today?" He looked over at you and laughed a bit. "After you passed out, I was carrying you on my back and Sei-chan asked what happened - he told me to take care of you, and that I'd be training twice as hard next time he sees me." Oh. A bit surprised you couldn't help but notice how kind Akashi actually is, what also came to your mind was that Reo was willing to skip practice and work twice as hard just to help you today. "Don't apologize - I know you _-san, I wouldn't do what I didn't want to." Giving a defeated nod, you both halted at the front of your door, as you unlocked it.

Reo quickly spotted your kitchen and placed the bags on the table as he began tampering with your stove, the oven, and even peeking inside your fridge. He was quick to make himself at home while you were trying to reorganize a bit as to make it more presentable. He appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Do you feel well enough to help me? You can always rest." You shook your head vehemently. You are going to help this man or drown in guilt not doing so. "I used to cook for my parents a lot when they were working, though they are divorced now so I don't see much of my dad." He nodded as you appeared by his side, tying an apron around yourself. Reo suggested putting on some music, as the melody filled the room, and the tv finished the silence with white noise in the background. You washed the vegetables, skinned the potatoes and chopped the peppers, Mibuchi trimmed the fat off the chicken and divided the breast between the abdomen and got to work. "Should we bake the chicken or fry it?" "Bake it, It's healthier that way, and the chicken holds it's moisture better. You were so busy marveling at Reo's knowledge that

Chop.

you sliced your finger slightly ajar. Reo's eyed widen as he quickly grasp your hand. "_-san! I take my eyes off of you for one rare moment and you cut yourself?" he sighed softly as he wrapped a rag around your finger gently pulling you along. "Where do you keep your first aid kit?" you motioned with your bloody rag-covered finger. "The bathroom." he gently took you along with him as he got out a band aid. Handling your finger he pulled the bandaid cover apart and wrapped it around your finger. "Now, can I trust you to finish your part of the job? or do I have to look at you the entire time?" He then narrowed his eyes. "Forget that, I don't trust you know how to handle a knife." you pouted at him. "I so do!" Returning to the kitchen he cleaned off the knife as he got behind you. Your heart sped up, your skin feeling hot as you felt him press slightly against the back of you, he leaned over and talked next to your shoulder. "If you claim that, then show me." But you were too nervous to move, the knife wasn't steady in your hand, and your fingers were slightly shaking. He clicked his tongue before he covered your hand with his, one hand holding the pepper, the other hand covering the knife. It was almost like you were holding hands - and it took constant mental repetition to remember that he was just teaching you something. "Alright." he talked down to your ear. "Keep your pointer on top of the shaft of the blade, it will help you maintain control better. As for how you hold the pepper, keep your fingers folded, so that only your knuckle is exposed - that way you can effectively avoid cutting yourself and you can measure out fair increments of what you cut." But all you could hear in your mind was.

"Oh..oh man he's so close..wow he smells so good, sort of like flowers, but like manly musky , his hair is tickling my shoulder should I tell him? I can feel the warmth radiating off his body.."

"_-san."

"_-san."

"Are you listening?" with his hands still over you he angled his neck down slanting his eyes at you. "Y-yeah!" "What did I just say?" "..." he shook his head. "Pay attention, I'm not going to repeat myself again after this." After you finished the prep work you made tea, meeting him at the table he glanced at your hand. "Is it still bleeding?" "No no I am okay now. Thank you!" "_-san, do you mind if I eat you tonight?" Your eyes widened as you nearly spat your tea out. "W-what?" he gave you an odd look. "I said, do you mind if I eat here tonight?" "Wow get your mind out of the gutter _.."

"I assumed that you were!" he returned your nod before looking outside the window. It was cloudier, and a few droplets of rain began pelting the window and roof before completely pouring. "What a good day to stay in hmm?"

As the chicken finished baking, you divided up the breast, the legs, the thighs, and the shoulders as you sauteed it with the mixed vegetables, Reo prepared the plates with rice, baked tofu and cups of tea as you filled the plates both with main entrees.

Both of you cleaned up, Reo insisting on washing the dishes. Feeling in a rather chipper mood you playfully splashed him with the water, as he gave you an irritated look, just when you were about to apologize a pile of soap bubbles covered your nose as you laughed, He cleaned it off of you before leaning down. "Should I take you to bed now?" He asked softly.

"W-what?" He sighed. "You need to learn to listen better, I said, should I take you to bed now?" Oh. So he was saying the right thing this time, you just chose to think of it wrong. "It's raining out, you should stay over tonight." He leaned against the windowpane and stared out at the sky. "I suppose that would be best." He went into your room out of curiosity to see what it looked like, you left the bathroom after you finished changing and sat down on your bed. Reo set down a picture frame of you and your parents before turning to you. He motioned for you to get into the sheets. Leaning over Reo pulled the covers over you - "Thank you for such a nice time tonight _san." his smile reflected in his eyes as he left, closing the door lightly. "Good night, Reo-kun.."

Kuroko Tetsuya

"_." A hand gently shook your shoulder as your head lolled slightly to the side. Then you felt two warm hands on your shoulders.

"_."

"Mm. Yeah?" you murmured as you looked up at Kuroko. You both were seated in the gymnasium, today was a scrimmage between the teammates in lieu of another game coming. He gave you a concerned look. "Are you okay? Have you been sleeping?" You shook your head slightly as you yawned. Lately, being so wrapped up with school and work you were experiencing another one of those slow processing days. "I guess not, I've been just all over the place lately." Between your two obligations, you also made room for somewhat of a social life, tagging along with Kagami and Kuroko to spectate them practicing together on weekends, or talking with one another during lunch. Time was slipping from your grasp. His face continues to reflect slight tension as he stood up. "I'm going to take you to get some water." As his hand extended in front of you, you tentatively wrapped your fingers around it. Kuroko notified Coach Riko, "Hurry back." was her last words before she blew on her whistle, face contorted with concentration directed at the court.

While you two were walking outside the gym, you realize that you were slightly leaning on him. "Oh, uh I'm sorry." He shrugged his shoulders casually. "Here." You both stopped in front of a fountain as you leaned in. Both of you stood against the wall, talking about the future game, about your days, and about anything, really. Surprisingly you don't find it hard to talk to Kuroko despite his quiet nature, and he seems to not mind answering any questions that you have - even if some of his answers are vague. He turned to you after your last sentence. "You should probably go home a little early today, get some rest." "Yeah..I suppose that's a good idea" you trailed off. Kuroko wasn't too sure what to make of it but gave a slight smile. "you'll feel better tomorrow, and hopefully later in the week can come see us again."

The outside breeze was surprisingly nice and inviting. Wearing only a light jacket, you slung your backpack over your shoulders and proceeded to make your way home. It was still early enough in the day where the sun was a warm amber. You lived just through town, and a little after that. Making your way past the cafes, restaurants and shops, you were deep in thought about how to better fix your schedule. "I think I might die at this point.." laughing to yourself at your drama you passed a fast food chain titled "Maji burger". Looking up at the orangey-yellow, red and blue stripes you felt someone bump into you, a cold liquid cascaded onto the right shoulder and forearm of your jacket. "Geezus why can't anybody ever watch where they are going?! Am I that short?!" you nearly said too loudly as you met eyes with an apologetic looking man. "S-sorry! that was my bad! I just left work in a hurry, I didn't see you there." he proceeded to go through his paper bag in search of napkins as you shook the pink substance off yourself. He handed the napkins to you. "Please hold on a second I'll be right back!" as he hurried inside the store, you started drying yourself off, the smell of sugar and strawberries hitting faintly to your nostrils. "This is so gross." A few minutes after the same man came running out with a piece of paper, it appeared to be a coupon for the place. He gave you a weak smile. "As an apology, please come by." You gave an off beat smile and thanked him before he scampered off. Looking down at the coupon you realized that you remembered Kuroko talking about this place. "Oh yeah, he goes here with Kagami after school sometimes."

The next day.. and a clean jacket.

You fiddled with the folded coupon in your jacket pocket as you met up with Kuroko near his locker. You gave him a small wave as he closed the locker. "Hey Kuroko! Lunch again?" He nodded, "Yeah, sure. Did you rest well last night?" you gave him a reassuring smile, the voices of other students tuning in and out occasionally as they walked by. Walking side by side again, there was a comfortable silence. In fact you and Kuroko seem to have these silences a lot, probably because you are relatively quiet people. But they weren't unwelcome, his presence was simply enough to make you content...and for some reason you hoped that he felt the same way. For awhile, you wanted to know Kuroko more then just school, and just through sports. Sure, you both hung out on the weekends but never alone, you wondered what it would be like to just..be alone with him casually. A blush crept forward. "Why am I thinking about being alone with Kuroko?"

"_." he called out to you. You look up at him and realized that you arrived at your class, you both exchanged farewells as you waited until lunch time.

Even during class as you developed a plan to find a way to ask him, somehow to go out with you without sounding like a date, it was then that you remembered. "The coupon!" you nearly shouted. A student nearby cocked an eyebrow at you. You nibbled on your bottom lip, practicing dialogue for how you would ask him out, "Come on, _. its not a date, you just want to hang out with him...but would it sound weird if you said hang out alone? Would he think it means anything?"

You sighed in anguish. It didn't have to be this hard yet it was.

At lunch, you didn't even begin eating yet. You just stared at Kagami. Kuroko did as well, but not as attentively. You leaned next to his ear and whispered "Is he even swallowing?" Kuroko gave a slight smile at your comment before Kagami saw you two, half chewing he opened his mouth further "hey! No secrets." "Don't talk while you're eating bakagami!" you remarked observing the food stuff in his left cheek as if he was a squirrel. He only grunted in annoyance too hungry to give a retort. Even after he left, you still have not thought of a clear way to ask Kuroko out. Finally, you decided to just turn to him. "Hey Kuroko?" his eyes enveloped yours as he waited for what you were about to say. Spending a little too long looking into his eyes, he said "_?" you shook your head slightly before feeling your face and body become a little warmer, an awkward smile played on your lips "Uh...u-uhm well, you see...uh" stutters only came out as you raised your finger attempting to finish. He came closer to you again and his face grew close to yours. "You don't seem well again." at this proximity, your stuttering got worse as you looked away avoiding his eyes. "U-UHM.. I'm okay really!"

"What were you saying?" he looked at you expectantly before you gave a defeated sigh. "Nevermind." Blue eyes studied your face for a second. "Are you sure?" You nodded your head, and you both turned to your food after awhile and resumed eating, you trying to block the slight sinking feeling of your own disappointment.

After school

Even if you didn't ended up asking him, you looked at the fine print on the coupon and realized that it expired today. "Gee, awfully thoughtful of him" you thought, recalling back to the guy that bumped into you. As you made your way to the place, you stepped in, fluorescent lights flooding you, extending above your head. You made a scan for the menu and decided on a vanilla milkshake, You stepped online and told your order to him, handing him the 1/2 off on a beverage drink. The employee looked at the coupon then looked back at you. "This only works if you buy two." He stated calmly. "Damn this fine print" It was then that your indulgent self decided to champion two vanilla milkshakes. finding a seat near the corner so you can people-watch you heard someone call your name. "_?" the familiar voice was right next to you as you looked up to see Kuroko. "O-oh hey!" he sat across from you, placing his backpack in the seat next to him. "I didn't know you go here." he eyed both your milkshakes then continued "Are you with someone?" You shook your head and proceeded to explain the story about the incident yesterday, then the coupon, then this. You ended up offering Kuroko the other one and found out you both enjoyed vanilla milk shakes and people watching. Kuroko was surprised to to know it was your first time here. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go before...but uh i didn't know if you were doing something" you said sheepishly. He shook his head. "I usually go with Kagami but he didn't want to today, so I just went by myself, do you wanna walk home?" he inquired. He finished his but you barely put a dent in yours, nodding you both decided to head out anyway.

The sun was near setting as Kuroko walked you home, you sipping on your drink occasionally. and Kuroko observing the people passing by, specifically the couple holding hands. "What are you thinking about?" you piped up. He turned to you and spoke in a slightly perplexed manner. "I was thinking about how difficult it looks to walk next to someone while your arm is around them." Thinking to yourself, maybe you had to sync your steps or something but you couldn't laugh at his thought, maybe it was the slight sugar rush but you leaned close to Kuroko and looped your arm around his. "Let's try it then." He seemed surprised for a second, before both of you continued walking. After awhile you heard him speak up, "I see, its not really that hard at all." you blushed as you let go. "Was that weird of me to do?" giving a blank stare, he his eye angled down to you. "Not really, I mean people might of assumed we were dating, but that's not really important." After awhile of walking and a little more chit chat you finally reached your home. "Thanks a lot Kuroko." "I should be thanking you, for the milkshake.." he closed his mouth for a moment before opening it again. "Glad I saw you." "Like wise!" you gave him a warm smile. As your hand rested on the doorknob you heard him speak up again. "Next time is my turn to take you there." He waved to you before you entered the door, your heart still fluttery and beating just a little faster...and it wasn't the sugar, either.


	6. Desire

Imayoshi Shoichi

You peeked down the hallway, checking for any sight of him. Shoichi has been acting rather odd lately and you yourself wondered what you thought of him as. Seeing that the sight was clear you strode down the aisle. At the same time, You spotted Shoichi stepping out of a classroom. "Good plan," you thought sarcastically.

His face caught yours and he gave you a hint of a smile before taking a step forward. "Hello, _." You avoided eye contact with him and mumbled a "hi." "It's not polite to mumble to someone," he smirked. You voiced your greeting more audibly before planning to leave. Shoichi caught onto your arm before you could escape. "What's the matter?" Shoichi's tone was light with a barely there undertone of concern. You looked up at him considering your words. "I can't say I'm avoiding him" He fully stepped in front of you as if waiting for an answer. Seeing that you didn't answer he gave a playful pout. "Someone's cold today". His teasing didn't help much either. Sighing deeply you said "Shoichi-kun am I just an activity to you?" his face contorted into surprise, long enough for you to walk past him.

His eyes followed the direction you've gone off to. He frowned deeply as he began heading to his locker. "That was unexpected."

Even when you reached your class your heart was still somewhat louder than before, whether from walking so vigorously fast or your annoyance for him you didn't know what to blame. You sat at the corner of the back row needing time to think to yourself. It was nice to know there was less than an hour of staying here. Walking out the doors, you haven't seen Shoichi since then, guilt was starting to rumble in the corner of your thoughts before you turned around to find him. Shoichi spotted you down the hallway and smiled mischievously as he made his way into the council room. You opened the door and excused yourself past a few students before walking up to him. Shoichi slowly turned around. "Did you need something _?" you looked around the room before hesitating to say anything. Shoichi sighed and continued "I have some tasks at hand so -" You spoke up "Can I talk to you in a private place?" amusement flickered in his eyes. "Absolutely."

"I'm sorry for being rude before, I hope you're not mad." You and Shoichi were in an empty room nearby. He crossed his arms with a thoughtful look. "That's alright." you nodded and took a step back "Okay, I suppose I'll see you later then?" he chuckled before swiftly stepping behind you. You gasped quietly as he slithered an arm around your waist. "Do I get something for being so forgiving?" you were blushing madly, trying to collect your thoughts. His warm breath went across your neck, you didn't know whether he was serious or not, but his face might be close enough to touch lips if you checked. You could feel his chest touching your back as his other hand went to pinch your nose lightly. "Answer." shaking yourself out of your mind you turned around to face him. "I still meant what I said before" your eyes searched his face curiously. " Shoichi rubbed his temple before saying "you're so nervous all the time Like I'd eat you up at any minute." a smirk went across his face. "I would not waste any time on you if I didn't want to be around you." Though it wasn't exactly the answer you were looking for, you decided to take it. "And yourself?" it was his turn to look at you. His eyes were gorgeous when they fully land on you and you couldn't help being momentarily distracted. "I-uh what?" he stepped closer to you and tilted his head. "You don't act like you like me very much yet you stay." "I mean, I wouldn't let you touch me if I didn't like you" your face reflected shock at what you said before turning around. "I should get going." but Shoichi was ruthless as he grinned and pulled you back into his arms. "Be free this weekend if you want to see me." you slowly nod before he opened the door.

As you set out to meet with Shoichi, you decided to look at yourself in the mirror one last time. Wearing a _ colored blouse that was slightly off shoulder and light washed jeans you left the door into a wonderfully warm Saturday noon. Shoichi was wearing dark colored clothes, a shirt with three red buttons down the collar and neck, unbuttoned. He looked up at you as you approached him. "Have you ever gone fishing before?" he asked while looking out into the water. You both were at a quietly peaceful dock, the sun shining well over both your heads. He took a step sideways beckoning you over. You gently took his hand as he guided you in front of him. "What are you doing?" looking up at him he placed your hands on rod in front of him. "I didn't know that you fished" you stated, slightly nervous yet fluttery having him be close to you. Shoichi nodded, the inside of his arm rubbing against your shoulder. "It's just a hobby." You giggled as you stared at him again. "You sure have no concept of personal space." he smiled and leaned down meeting your eyes. "And you seem fine with no boundaries between us." "Y-you don't seem like a bad guy." you murmured looking forward out into the ocean. It was rather nice, seeing the clouds pass overhead, the rays of the sun coming and going as time passed you both by. Suddenly the line started to gently tug. Your face became alerted. "What do we do?" Shoichi still seemed relaxed. "We wait." "For how long?" "Until the time is right." You rolled your eyes at him. "How do you know when the time is right?" the line gave a harder tug as Shoichi quickly began reeling it in.

His voice went from your ear trailing down the side of your neck as he spoke. "You need to wait for the fish to feel secure enough to stay" he spoke into your neck sending tremors into your body. "Sh-shouldn't we focus?" he continued speaking, the feeling of lips still slightly down the sensitive skin "I'm perfectly focused." Suddenly a fish sprang from the water and he caught it in his hand, he moved out away from you and released the fish back into the ocean. "You're letting it go?" "I only do it for fun." Shoichi walked back up to you. You narrowed your eyes at him. "You shouldn't do things like that to me in public." he laughed, "But isn't that what makes it thrilling"? you blushed as you picked up the rod. "Okay, now let me try." he appeared next to you marveling at the rather cute and focused look on your face. You noticed him staring and looked up. "I mean, may I?" he gently patted your head. "That's why we came here, silly girl."

Kiyoshi Teppei

You and Kiyoshi have been dating for awhile now, and he seems to always be by your side. He would be with you on weekends for dates, and always remembers to text and call you if he didn't see you, ..he really is just -"Perfect!" Teppei smiled widely as he finished making his iced coffee. He noticed you lagging behind before taking your hand. "You ready?" his eyes covered you with warmth as you smiled and made your way out the coffee shop. "So you really don't like black coffee?" Teppei gave a shake of his head while sipping on his straw. "Too bitter, I like sweetness" he pulled you in close by the shoulders "Kinda like you " laughing you hold onto his arm. "You're cheesy you know."

Teppei and you continued chatting as you both made your way back to your house. He casually plopped onto your bed and looked up at the ceiling. "I forgot how much I like your room, it's only my second time here too!" You sat down next to him, taking a look around. "I haven't really spent much time on decorating it, but it has its quirks." Teppei was gazing at you admiringly before poking your side. "Come closer," he stated. You rolled your eyes and scooted closer to him until he sat up taking you into his arms. Enveloped into his large frame you breathed in the scent from the crook of his neck. "Is there something on your mind? he was looking at your paintings while he held you. They hung off on the wall furthest from the bed. "I didn't know that you paint _" you slowly let out of his embrace as you walked over to them. "Yeah I used to paint a lot but I don't get too much time to anymore." Teppei soon appeared to your right as he observed them more closely. "Do you still have any supplies around?" sliding the doors open to your closet you dug out a few empty canvases and paints. Teppei's eyes switched from the paints to the painting. "Doesn't look like any of those colors were used in this one." "He's pretty observant," you thought. "That's because I mix some colors together to create new ones, hues, pastel, shades things like that" you confirmed. Teppei bent down and picked up an empty canvas. "We should try painting together _, it's pretty nice out today." you picked up the supplies and smiled "That sounds fun actually!"

Following Teppei out of the room both of you sat at a table near the courtyard. There was a light breeze that made the remnants of leaves and flowers fall as birds chirped idly by. Once and awhile when you and Teppei would reach out for a color, His fingers would tenderly catch yours as he brushed his thumb across your knuckles. As you met his face, you could see the reverence in his eyes making your body feel achy all over. "I think I'm in love with this man." Your dreamy eyes studied his face..before looking down at what he was working on. The canvas before him seemed devoid of any recognizable image, as paints appeared over mixed and dark splotches cover close to most of the white and blank space. You covered your mouth to keep yourself from bursting out into laughter. Kiyoshi knit his eyebrows together as he looked at you to his canvas. Then he smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I might not be so good at this. Aha" he too began to share in on your laughter as he placed the board on the table. After awhile of calming down and wiping some tears, you stepped by him and wrapped your arms around his shoulders. "Don't be embarrassed, I'm just surprised," he grasp your wrists gently as he looked down at his canvas squinting. "I tried to mix colors I liked together but that didn't work well." He pointed to what he was using and continued. "Yeah, many people are surprised when they see I'm bad at certain things." You set the paints aside and pulled your seat closer to him. "When you mixed colors, white is always mute and it's great with certain colors like green, red or blue to create an effect like sunlight reflecting off the water" Teppei looked closer at what you were doing, observing the way you brush over the top of your canvas. The rest of the time was spent showing him how to mix certain colors, and what they can make images appear like. In the end, Teppei didn't seem to draw anything but mixing colors was still fun to him. "I like when you teach me things, _." he rested his hand on your hip and gave it a light squeeze. Resting your palms on his shoulders you went on your tippy toes to give him a peck on the lips. "You were a good student yourself Teppei-kun."

After placing your paint away to the hidden troves of your closet you turned around with a hand on your hip. "I almost forgot, are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?" Teppei leaned by the doorway of your room. "I could always eat." he cheekily answered. You led him into the kitchen as you looked through the cupboards and fridge for supplies. Teppei would thoughtfully retrieve things high off the shelves for you and proceeded to help you make a sandwich for you and himself. As you finished placing the peanut butter on the bottom piece of your bread you called out to him "Teppei-kun can you pass me the jelly?" You turned and bumped your back into his hand "Oh! sorry!" expecting the jar to be knocked out of his grasp. You looked to see that it was still in his grip. "Teppei I wish I had your height, oh and your hands too!" you said while spreading the jelly onto the other side. After Kiyoshi cut his sandwich in half he kissed the side of your head. "You know these hands aren't only good at just basketball," he said as he pressed his forehead against yours. You couldn't help but give a small laugh. "Did you come up with that by yourself?" Teppei huffed, "I was just trying something new." He washed both of your plates as you sat back on the couch.

You've decided to take your sweater off as you settled down, Teppei sat down next to you and pulled you into his lap. You turned to face him, straddling his waist as you looked at one another. "I have to go soon" his soft voice was soothing as he ran his large hands down your back. Your lips curled into a little frown as you stared at him. "Is there any way I can have you stay longer?" you wrapped your arms around him and kissed along his jaw. Teppei took a deep intake of breath. "You make it hard to control myself sometimes, _." He finally shifted his weight and placed you softly on your back, hovering over you. Giving a tempting smile your faced leaned up to meet his lips. His forearms rested on either side of your head as your inner calves stroke the outside of his thighs. You wanted to wrap them around his waist and pull him close, but at the same time, you were nervous. Teppei trailed the tip of his nose down your neck and kissed your collar bone. "I might do something if I stay longer."

Aomine Daiki

"Guess where we are going today?!"

The text automatically opened as Aomine flipped through your phone. "Oui, _. Satsuki said we were going to the hot springs today." Aomine was leaning back on your couch after coming over (uninvited). Your head popped out from the bathroom with your toothbrush still in your mouth. "Mmm, mmmghh." Aomine cocked his head in your direction before narrowing his eyes. "Hurry up and finish I didn't hear any of that." Stepping out you took your phone out of his hand as he admired your backside. "Are those new shorts _?" your eye lifted after you finished replying. "You're shameless." he swung his legs downward and sat up. "You're the one wearing such short shorts." Aomine and you gathered your things before meeting Momoi at the school. The moment you both entered the doors the entire basketball team was there.

Satsuki waved to you and beckoned you both over. "I'm so glad you guys could come today!" "Yeah.." you replied then looked around "I didn't know it was the whole team" you greeted Sakurai first as he shyly waved back and Imayoshi next who was at the far end of the wall. Wakamatsu was barely acknowledging Aomine's existence as he made his way to you and Satsuki. "The bus is here now so we should get going." You sat next to Aomine and Satsuki as the bus came, it was a nicely decorated bus with three seats to a row instead of two. Even so, Aomine still took up most of the room. You sat by the window and watched the other team members get on board. Satsuki sighed irritably as she shoved his arm. "I'm not going to sit next to you if you're going to take up all the space." "Then don't sit next to me" he replied gruffly leaning back further against his seat. She crossed her arms and stood up before directing her attention to you. "_-san why don't you come sit with me?" Before you could even think of moving Aomine has an arm around you and the outline of your seat. Replying with his eyes closed. "She can't. I'm using her as my pillow until we get there." Satsuki left to sit next to the coach who looked over at Aomine before running his head into his hair. "It seems like Momoi is mad at you." Aomine crossed his arms and rested his head on your shoulder while slouching. "Tch, when is she not."

The entire bus ride was spent in some silence as any time one of the members of the basketball team attempted to talk to you Aomine would pretend to snore loudly or wake up and shoo them away for being too loud. Sometimes his hand would wander and run teasingly up your thigh before you swat it away. The bus then made a left and pulled in neatly to the front entrance of the hot springs. "D-don't shove Wakamatsu!" Sakurai called out desperately as he gained back his footing from falling over. The rest got off the bus and met in the front. You were divided by male and female of course and followed Momoi to get changed. "Say, _-san, how far have you gone with Dai-chan?" she asked, curiosity brimming in her eyes. You cough slightly, "Not far, I mean we haven't kissed really but we took a nap together." she arched an eyebrow at you. "You haven't kissed but you slept together?" "It's not like that!" you said exasperatedly. Giggling she wrapped a towel around herself. "I'll meet you outside then!"

Following Momoi outside you attempted to explain to her what you meant. Meanwhile, Aomine was casually hanging against the wall that separated you and him, listening in. "No, I haven't kissed him yet, so I guess that doesn't make us a couple?" She splashed some water at you. "He doesn't see it that way, and technically if he doesn't kiss you then you don't belong to him." Aomine's eyes opened after hearing that. "Yeah, yeah, well I don't really even know if he wants me that way. Can we talk about something else?" As you and Momoi shifted in conversation Aomine spent the rest of the time thinking to himself

The following time was spent eating inside, the noises of people talking making it hard to listen to your own thoughts. You suddenly noticed how quiet Aomine was being. "Hey what's up with you?" he grunted and continued stuffing his face with food. "Try this, _, I think you'll enjoy it." a piece of fried squid appeared in front of your face with a smiling Imayoshi (he's everywhere!) behind it. You took your chopsticks and picked it from him. "That's very tasty! Where did you get that?" Besides Aomine - talking and hanging out with the rest of the team was actually not so bad. This mini vacation after a hard season made the trip all the more worth it. The sun began to set soon after you finished your food. You waited awhile talking to Sakurai. "I think I might go back in for a dip before I sleep" "Stressful day?" he asked. You shook your head slightly before considering. "That could be it but it's more like I like relaxing, haha, blame Aomine for that."

Stepping outside with just a towel you were greeted with the sound of cicadas and chirping of crickets. You dipped your toe into the hot water before sighing softly and slipping in. A few minutes through you began hearing rustling. You sat up searching the dark area. "Is anyone there?" A dark haired man stepped under a lantern with a little cicada in his hand, it was Aomine. The cicada attempted to jump off before he captured it again. He looked over at you "What are you doing? he let the bug free before strolling over. "H-hey! You can't just waltz into the women's hot spring!" you nearly shouted. Aomine laughed. "You're in the men's hot springs, idiot." Apparently, your sense of direction was off as you grabbed your towel and attempted to leave. Aomine scooped you into his arms "Got ya." he smirked widely, picking you up bridal style and placing you back in the water. You covered his eyes as you took your towel off and sunk neck down. "Don't look." he stood up and began peeling off his clothes, your eyes widened and you quickly turned away. "What are you doing?" the water made a ripple and small splash. "Getting in. I was planning to in the first place." "Well I'm here!" he placed his back on a rock. "Not my fault you're perverted," he remarked. Glaring at him you tried to get up again before caging you back in his arms. "We're naked Aomine! What happens if someone sees?" "Then they will get uncomfortable and leave." "We could get in trouble!" No matter what argument you presented he didn't move from his spot. He placed his hand over your mouth. "I'm trying to relax here, so don't talk so much"

As soon as you moved away again, he turned you around and lifted your chin up. "Stubborn woman." "You shouldn't even be doing these things with me, I don't even know what we are." his face was close to you in a matter of minutes. "If you wanted me to kiss you, you shoulda just asked." He angled his neck and pressed his lips against yours. You moaned softly wrapping your arms around him as he lifted you up from underneath your thighs and placed you evenly on a rock in the water. Your hands roamed up and down his wet chest as he pressed his body against yours. "Wait, Aomine" But he didn't listen, he moved his lips down and began licking and nibbling your neck before you placed your hands on his shoulders. "How do you feel about me?" he scoffed before flicking your forehead. "I like you, idiot." Just as you thought he was going to do more he moved over you and handed you a towel. "It's getting late, get some sleep."

Akashi Seijuro

"_. Read this aloud for me." Akashi was seated in front of a large desk handing you an article. It was late in the afternoon as you began reading to him. Akashi would occasionally look down to take some notes before asking you to continue to the next page. Even while writing he still manages to look up from time to time and observe you. Akashi then stood up and proceeded to take the article and notes from you filing them into the cabinet. "You would most likely be doing that for me in the future," Akashi stated as he began to instruct you on what papers were to go where. You listened accordingly and he gave you a squeeze on the shoulder. "Don't let me down." For the past week or so you've been helping Akashi out as his "personal assistant" "Like a high school guy would need something of that sort" you thought quizzically to yourself. Surprisingly so, Akashi does engage in a lot of activities from violin and piano, to shogi and being president of the student council and most of all captain of the Rakuzan team. Many times you find yourself delivering messages, documents or papers to student council if Akashi was at basketball practice. Sometimes you would even play shogi with him if he felt like having an opponent.

*Flashback*

"_. Come. Be my opponent." You hesitantly took a seat across from him. "You know how to play correct?" you nodded your head slowly. "I don't play as much as you though." Akashi gave a slight smile. "Never mind that." After about two losses Akashi set up the board again. "Aren't you getting tired of winning against me?" you asked before picking up a piece and moving it. Akashi only chuckled. "You last long enough against me."

"Do you require me to attend any of your recitals at all?" you were walking by his side down the hall. Akashi took his time answering. "It's not needed, attend if you want to, but it'll certainly affect my impression of you." "Is that a good thing or bad thing?" "It would be good, considering you do it often." he placed a hand on top of your head before you both entered your morning classes together. It was surprising, within a short time it felt as though Akashi has gotten you to himself. "Plan went more smoothly then I presumed" He closed his eyes and smirked to himself. You still sat behind Akashi, and once and awhile you would find yourself studying his neck again. Ryu would still text you, being extremely nosey about why you've been spending so much time with the red haired emperor.

Pretty soon most parts of the school were growing curious as well. Rumors would fly around that you two were fooling around, or that you were just stalking Akashi, or even that Akashi could be blackmailing you. The most common one happened to be that you both were in a relationship together. "Akashi-kun, do you know there are some rumors about us?" Akashi was shuffling through some papers again before his eyes landed on you casually. "I don't pay attention to details like that." You shrugged your shoulders and continued. "A lot of our school mates think we are dating." as the last word lift your mouth a light pink hue dusted your cheeks. He noticed and came close until you both were touching shoulder to shoulder. "How interesting," he replied. "You don't seem to be reacting to it." Akashi's eyes darkened, looking out the window. "I could care less about what any of them say." You looked at his figure until he turned to face you. "Did you get the filing done yet?" "Yes." "Did you also tell Reo what I said?" "I let him know." "And you finished your homework?" "Early.' Akashi gave a satisfied expression. "You're quite well at this, you must really want it." You were suddenly reminded of why you were helping him in the first place. Through the time spent together, you hardly thought of what you were initially doing it for. "I still feel odd about it." "Why is that?" you shuffled your feet and pulled your sweatshirt on. "Because you're just someone I work for, but also someone I go to school with." the redhead stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder slightly. "Is that all you see me as?" For some reason, the thought of answering that question filled you with trepidation. "Well I mean, maybe, if we were actually dating it would feel a little more normal.." Silence. "Since..couples tend to give presents to one another as a sign of affection." you finished. Surprisingly Akashi didn't answer but continued walking outside. Before he reached his limo he offered you a ride home, but the bus was right there. "I'll see you tomorrow Akashi-kun." he gave a single nod and left.

The next day was a weekend day.

"Are you ready?"

it was a text from Akashi.

"Yes I am."

entering the last few letters you pressed send.

"Bring something in case you get cold" was the reply.

You met Akashi at a horse ranch where he was dressed...rather handsomely. While admiring his appearance he glanced over at you. "I didn't know you rode horses." Akashi ran a hand over his white horse before leading him back to his stall. "There is a lot you don't know about me _." He quickly changed and led you down a pathway near the ranch. "Where are we going?" "On a walk. There's something I want you to see." You and Akashi walked side by side, brushing shoulders as you walked down the cleared pathway. Trees still surround the entirety of the area as sunlight filtered through the cracks of the branches. Akashi seemed quiet the whole time and you were unsure whether to start a conversation or not. "Akashi-kun." "Hmm?" "You seem like you're thinking about something." He gave a mysterious smile. "I'm always thinking about something." Once you arrived at a clearing, you gazed in awe at the beautiful flower bed that lavishly surrounded the entire ground. "They grow here naturally since no trees cover the sunlight." You stepped into the small field and bent down grazing your fingertips across the pedals of a light yellow daisy. "How did you find this place?" "While taking a stroll with Yukimaru." "Your girlfriend?" Akashi shook his head. "My horse." "Oh." You felt slightly ashamed at yourself for even feeling the tiniest bubble of jealousy at the thought of Akashi having a girlfriend. "Knowing you, you're probably curious about why I brought you here." He walked up next to you as you were waiting for his answer. "I was curious," he paused for a second seeming to consider his next choice of words. "How I can change the way you see me." you shifted your feet so you were looking straight into his lovely orbs. "Why would you want to?" Akashi gave a rather odd laugh. "It seemed to have stayed in my thoughts since yesterday's conversation." "About how the situation is odd?" he gave a slight confirmation. "So, you want to find a way for me to feel comfortable accepting an expensive camera from you." His eyes glimmered as he stared at you with acute interest. "Clever as always _." your chest warmed at the thought of Akashi being so considerate of you. "But also, " he continued with a slightly different change in voice, the orange hue in his eye became remarkedly contrasted to his red. "I plan to set a level where you could comfortably give and receive with me." his fingers, slightly cold reach out and ran along the side of your jaw tucking under your chin as he made you look at him. " I think for that to happen, you should belong to me." you blinked a few times as Akashi face neared yours, half expecting a kiss. But he was staring into your eyes with such intent and "..desire?" you thought. Your hands reached up to brush over his own as you both stepped closer to one another. "Is this why you brought me here?" "This was the best place to have this conversation." "How sweetly romantic.." you thought. Even if Akashi was very different and had his own way of doing things you still couldn't help but feel enamored. "You give a sound argument." you close your hand around his, and he gave a slight smile before noticing you shiver. Akashi placed his jacket over you as you both made your way back.

He then gave you a look before saying "Good. I'm glad we share the same view." He opened the door to the limo. "Next time we can work on you bringing something when I ask you to." Even so, he still said it in a light-hearted tone as you both sat together.

Kise Ryouta

You uncrumpled the paper in front of you. It was a letter from a girl you didn't recgonize.

"Can we talk after class?"

You turned and nodded to her before folding the letter back up again. After your last class ended, two girls immediately met ambushed you at the sides. "Hi?" you looked at both of them clearly confused as they look intensely at your face. "Are you friends with Kise-kun?" "Of course she is, she's around him all the time." the other girl answered for you. "That's really it though, we're just friends," you reassured them, despite their unconvinced expressions. Then one of the girls gave a weird smile before leaning on her elbows. "Do you want to know why Kise-kun doesn't have a girlfriend?" You thought a moment before answering. "Maybe because he hasn't found a girl he really liked?" they both laughed at once before the other girl. one in braids answered. "There's a rumor that in middle school, Kise-kun got his heart broken because the girl he was dating only liked him because he was a model." the other girl continued. " That's why we try to protect him from getting his heart broken again." you stood up from your desk. "Well I told you both already, we are just friends. I can't break his heart if I'm just his friend." was all you said before you pushed your chair away, the legs screeching against the floor. You saw their surprised and annoyed faces from the reflection of the door before leaving.

The moment you arrived home you tiredly walked to your room and sunk face first in your bed. "So tired..must sleep." your eyelids became heavy, drifting off into slumber.

-Awhile later-

There was a knock. Your mom opened the door to see a beaming familiar blonde. "Hello _'s mom!" she smiled and hurried him in. "_ is in her room." Kise thanked her and knocked on your door a few times. The door slid slightly back by itself where he took a peek inside. Kise stepped into your room and watched your sleeping figure for a moment. Your hair was messy and you were still wearing your uniform, hugging a body pillow tightly to your chest. As much as he tried not to, his eyes subtly roamed up your exposed outer thigh where it was placed over the pillow. "_. _." You woke up to a pair of brown eyes. "Ki-kise-kun! Knock next time geez." you rubbed your eyes and sat up. He pinched your cheek, before tugging on it. "Your door was opened anyway." "What do you want" you retorted. Kise frowned before laying comfortably on the edge of your bed. "I was wondering if you wanted to go shopping tomorrow, I get discounts for stores I feature in." He then took a look at a pile of your dirty clothes in the corner. "Figured you need an update in your wardrobe" he addressed teasingly. You rolled your eyes before burying your head back in your pillow. "No thanks, shopping is boring and a waste of time, go without me." you heard him groan in annoyance before crawling up next to you. His voice was right behind you now. "Please _-icchi" "Ugh the ichhi part.." since he started calling you that you noticed he only uses it when he wants to get you to do something or when he finds you adorable. This was the former. Finally, you grunted a yes. Kise grinned and turned your shoulders so you're facing him. "I'm glad you know when to listen." a speck of gold flickered in his eyes as he lightly cups your face. Your eyes went wide like saucers when you noticed you and him were laying in bed together. "Are we done, I'd really like to finish my nap." his faced brightened up "Have a good sleep, save your energy for tomorrow." he waved and closed the door.

The morning, unfortunately, came as you felt someone shaking your shoulder. You groggily looked up and saw your mother standing above you. "Wake up sweetheart, today's your date with that handsome model." "He has a name mom, and it's not a date" you grumbled. She gave a loud laugh as she ruffled your hair. "I wake you up for school, for doctor's appointments, and now dates. Hope I don't have to do it forever~" she sang before leaving. Even if it was not a date you somehow found yourself shifting through clothes to find a nice outfit. "It's not a date though," you thought. After what seemed like a half an hour of rummaging you gave a defeated pout. "Kise was right, I do need more in my wardrobe.." You walked out in a simple light yellow blouse, jeans, and brown shoulder bag and flats. Kise came a minute later taking your hand and spinning you around slowly in a playful manner. "You look nice today" he concluded. You hid your blush as you both started your trip. You and Kise arrived at a shopping outlet out of town. You were staring at the passing couples, reminding you of a question. "Kise have you ever had a girlfriend?" Kise nodded. "Once, in middle school." "Only one?" "I never really dated girls after her, just wasn't my main priority I suppose." Turning a corner he cast his glance downward "Why do you ask?" his voice sounded oddly low, almost predatory. "I must be hearing things.." shaking your head mentally, you recalled the school day. "...so they said that they wanted to protect you from getting your heart broken. Kise' shoulders were shaking as he muffled himself. "That's stupid, I don't need protection." shaking his head you both stopped into a store. "But the rest of what they said was true. She only dated me because I was a model. " unable to sense how he was feeling you awkwardly pat him on the back. He chuckled. "No need to console me, I hardly think of it. It means nothing to me." a cold expression washed over his face as he picked out a shirt.

"There's not much of anything I really want" you murmured looking around in the store. "It's alright, I knew you were going to say that. I got what I wanted for you anyway." your eyes lit up meeting his eyes "For me?" he smiled and showed you a dark burgundy-colored scarf and matching beanie. "The day I modeled for the winter shoot, the other model was wearing this," he fit the beanie over your head. "And it looks just like how I'd imagined." he gave an approving look before pinching your cheeks. "This is expensive Kise-kun" you let the material slip through your fingers. Kise only patted your back as both of you left. Some quietness floated between you two before you couldn't contain yourself. Both of you arrived back at your house, your mother sounds asleep. You turned to him with a somewhat serious expression. "Kise-kun. During some parts of the day you had this..cold look when you talked about your ex-girlfriend and during other times too, why?" he shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't really notice." "You're lying to me," you said matter of factly.

Before you knew it you were quickly pinned to the wall.

Kise stared at you before saying in a low voice. "Because girls only like that I am a model nothing more." he narrowed his eyes into an almost impassive glare. "Shallow feelings, and heavy anchors." He closed his eyes for a moment. "That's all I see them as." "Even me?" you spoke up softly. His eyes focused on your irises before resting on your lips. "Well.." he lifted his finger and lightly grazed it along the outline of your lips. "I thought you'd be different, but if I did what I wanted I wonder if you'll hold me back." "I wouldn't stop you," you said breathlessly. He gave a mocking laugh before shaking his head. "I mean you might end up getting attached and holding me down." "You might do the same for me." it was his turn to be thrown off guard as the golden hair man gave you a peculiar look. "Well...I guess we wouldn't know if we didn't try.." and with that, he hooked his fingers around the loops of your jeans pulling your pelvis towards him as he captured your lips into a fiery, breathtaking and smoldering kiss.

Kuroko Tetsuya

Kuroko appeared behind you with a warm cup of hot chocolate. You were looking at a book on his desk. "The Art of Manipulating the Gaze" "That's when I started practicing misdirection" he looked over your shoulder as you flipped through the pages. You smiled ."So that's where you got your observation skills from." "I always thought I had that." you closed the book and sat down at his desk. "Say Kuroko-kun, did you ever use your misdirection for anything else?" he looked up thoughtfully. "I could perform magic tricks, and I would disappear without anyone noticing." Your voice became slightly excited, "You should show me sometime!" he rested his jaw on his knuckles giving you a kind look. "Sure," he said softly.

It was a typical night that you, Kagami, Kuroko accompanied by Junpei and Kiyoshi met at Maji Burger. It was originally just you and those two, but Junpei and Kiyoshi happened to be there as well. "Hey _!" Kiyoshi ruffled your hair playfully as he gave you a warm and welcoming smile. "Long time no see." Junpei greeted you then Kagami and Kuroko as you all waited on line. "So, I hear that you and Kuroko are dating _." Kiyoshi's eyes gave a mischievous glint as he sat down next to you. "Oh? Well..I mean maybe" he cocked his head to the side. "You're not sure?" "I don't really know it's not like we officially said that, but..." a small blush formed on your cheeks. "I do like him." Kiyoshi reaches out to poke your cheek. "Ah, young love," he said wistfully. Junpei listening nearby narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not that much older!" You laughed as Kiyoshi sweat dropped. "Well, anyway, I think he likes you, he's very thoughtful towards you," Kiyoshi replied.

Meanwhile, Kagami and Kuroko were outside. "Hey, are you listening?" Kagami shook Kuroko from his thoughts. "Sorry, please excuse me for a second," Kuroko said before turning on his heel and walking further down the road. "I almost forgot, I hope they're still open" he thought. As Kuroko disappeared further down the road Kagami came in to meet you and the others. "Where is Kuroko-kun?" you looked around. "Not sure. Said he was getting something." Kagami said briskly as he paid for his food. After you all finished eating Kuroko came back not a moment later, he seemed a bit haggard and out of breath. "You're back, did you eat anything?" Junpei scanned Kuroko's face with mild interest. The blue haired shook his head. "Not hungry." You and the others parted ways as Kuroko began walking you home. "Where did you go?" "To get something." "Like what?" "You'll see" "When?" this was when Kuroko looked at you. "Soon." Though that wasn't a good enough time frame for you. You reach over and attempted to slide your hand in his pocket. He accurately dodged just out of the way of your prying fingers, effortlessly dodging your attempts. He then grasped your wrist and placed it at your side. "_-san, It will be worth the wait." "Can I at least see what it looks like?" he then took out a small black box, and you leaned forward as fast as you could, but...it disappeared right before your eyes. "H-hey! How did you do that?" seemingly frazzled you looked to see where he moved his arm. Kuroko gave a small smile. "I told you to wait." Knowing that you weren't going to win against him you decided to walk home in a huff. Kuroko being the sweetheart he was tried to subtly cheer you up.

You decided to visit Kuroko at basketball practice today to see if today was the day he would show you what he got. Suddenly instead of a blue haired man there was a blue eyed dog running up to you. You squatted down and stared into his eyes. He seemed to be studying you for a moment before barking happily again and jumping into your arms. "Hey little guy" your face lit up in delight as you scratched under his chin pulling him close to your chest. "They call him Tetsuya #2." Kuroko bent down to pet the black and white dog. "He's the team mascot!" A guy with a number 6 jersey number said, Shinji Koganei. you stood up and brought the dog to the bench idly petting him as you watched the team practice. You scrolled through your phone deleting old pictures and began giving Tetsuya #2 a photo shoot. He cuddled happily in your arms enjoying the attention before Kuroko walked back up to you. "Riko-san is bringing him home today, it's her turn" Kuroko stated before trying to pick him up. Tetsuya #2 growled at Kuroko before moving back to your lap. Kuroko was rather surprised since that was the first time he ever did that. You stuck your tongue out at Kuroko. "I think he likes me more than you." Kuroko smiled before picking him up again.

Practice ended, and Riko and #2 waved farewell to you both. Finally, after leaving the gym doors Kuroko placed his hand on yours to get your attention. "Do you want to come over for awhile?" "That depends, are you going to show me it today?" "Does it really depend on that?" you stuck your tongue out of the inside of your cheek. "Noo..I would of seen you anyway." Kuroko gave a content smile and took your hand gently, leading you to his living room. your knees touched one another's, with you watching him take things out of his backpack. You yawned quietly which caught his attention. "You seem tired." he placed a cushion behind your back prompting you to get comfy on his sofa. Then an idea came to you. "Do you..think we could go to your bedroom instead?" Kuroko stayed quiet for some time looking at your face, "Sure." he stood up and led the way opening the door for you. As you crawled into his bed he was seated at his desk. "I'm glad you can get yourself comfortable here." he turned the desk lamp on and smiled at you. you rested your head against the wooden board. "Kuroko-kun, It's been really fun being with you these past few days." he chuckled, "you're saying sleepy _ things again." "what is sleepy _things?" "The things you only say when you get sleepy." he sat himself on the spot next to you on the bed and you moved your hand onto his. He then understood what you wanted and held your hand giving it a light squeeze. Then he took your other hand and you felt a small square box between your palms. Your eyes shot open as you quickly took the box from him. "Can I see?" "Of course, you waited." the minute you opened it you saw a bracelet round shaped with a bookcase design inside of it.

(Reference- 305665ee7e6eac8fa4add2ff27b07d )

"I saw it in front of a store one day, and thought maybe you would have gotten it if you were with me," he said, a tone of shyness in his voice. You looked at it, then slid it onto your wrist before looking back up at him. "I love it, Thank you Kuroko-kun." you pulled him tightly into an embrace as he gently ran his thumb over your elbow.

P.s Yes, Akashi really does have a horse named Yukimura.

P.s.s And yes in the manga, Kise really is colder the depicted in the anime.

P.s.s.s - I also have a hefty list of favorite 2D men so don't worry about Reo, lol.


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